As a Chinese American born and raised in California, my identity didn’t seem unique or rare, but in a pleasant way. I was blessed to be raised in a community that supported me and grounded me. However, after I moved to Chicago to work in tech consulting, I lost my footing and stability. The comfort that I took for granted for years was compromised, and I was forced to find my balance or fall.

If Duke has taught me anything, it’s that when the game changes around you, you learn to trust your pivot foot, like any great basketball player would. Through trials and tribulations, I took pride in standing out through my identity in a city I’ll forever love.

Finding My Footing

When my plane landed at the Raleigh-Durham airport, I looked back and forth between my dad and the airplane window. When I looked out the window, I felt intense excitement. Soon, I would be immersed in one of the best business analytics programs, the greatest college basketball community, and a year on Duke’s gorgeous campus. But when I looked back at my dad, I felt the fear of losing my pivot foot again, with a year spent far from my family and uncertainty about my future.

My first steps inside Fuqua still feel like they happened yesterday. I walked past the Kirby Winter Garden and picked up a ticket to a Durham Bulls baseball game. I remember how nervous I was entering the stadium alone, overthinking how the next two hours would unfold with a plate and drink in my hands. Over the course of the evening, I only talked to one person, a statistics student born in China but raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. During the game, I felt a strange combination of new feelings: the comfort of connecting with someone who also seemed to be finding their footing.

Gaining Confidence in My New Foundation

After orientation and the first few weeks of classes, I let go of my fears and fully immersed myself in my cohort. Learning about their different upbringings and cultures, this program was eye-opening, introducing me to new religions, art, and disciplines. With the intention of further connecting people, I applied and was elected to lead my track as the Marketing Chair. The role involved coordinating networking seminars, engaging activities, recruiting resources, and mental health support.

It was a rewarding experience. One especially amazing experience was organizing the MQM Olympics, where over 60 students were outside cheering one another on during potato sack races, pull-ups, and chubby bunny. Through service and leadership, I found and planted my pivot foot once again.

Pivoting With Intention

Outside of my leadership role, I pursued opportunities to work with Duke Athletics. In other words, I cold-emailed every single contact in the staff directory. From analytics directors to creative media teams, I was faced with almost 100 non-responses and dozens of ‘no’s. A few were open to a phone call. Then, finally, I received a ‘yes.’

 I managed to coordinate a project with the Duke women’s basketball team. Specifically, I began to work with the team’s health, training and performance statistics with the aim of translating insights, solidifying positive or negative correlations, and serving the prestigious sports program as a data scientist.

Through that passion, I found my balance beyond the pivot — using a “free foot” I hadn’t intentionally developed before. With each passing term, I grew more familiar with pivoting between my hobbies. Things like dinners, movies in the auditorium, late nights studying in team rooms, birthday parties, concerts, fairs, football tailgates, Campout, sharing laughs on the JB Duke hammocks, karaoke at the Tavern, pool at West End Billiards, and so much more.

The classroom gets tough. Homework and case studies will pile. Sometimes, it feels impossible to talk to people. But whenever you feel like your foundation, your pivot foot, is slipping, never forget that you can rely on your free foot, the life you’ve built outside the classroom, to stand strong amid the adversity.