The D in Duke is for Diversity
It’s much more than learning in a classroom
I thought my high school in Miami was diverse because my English teacher’s grandpa was from Lebanon and because my graduating class was not 100% Hispanic.
Now I suddenly find myself playing Cards Against Humanity on a Friday night while arguing about which of our friends is the most American and concluding that it’s the Hungarian-German who happens to have an American citizenship.
Duke doesn’t “open your mind” and “expand your horizons” by teaching you how to memorize parts of the brain the same night that you need to understand why the supply curve shifts to the right when costs fall, but by hooking you up with a Kenyan roommate and a Latvian best friend.
Here I can listen to my Egyptian and Lebanese neighbors argue about whose Arabic dialect is better, at the same time as I try to make everyone else realize that there is an “l” in the word “salmon” and a second “a” in “caramel.” I can pay for Latvian folk dance lessons with Greek food or mute the music from my headphones and hear my roommate speaking Kiswahili.
So in other words, don’t worry. It’s okay if you don’t step into a history class or (God forbid) open a CulAnth textbook, because you can learn about cultures and their customs, people and their idiosyncrasies, just by interacting with those around you.
It also just makes life a lot more entertaining to have to explain who Kobe Bryant is, that it’s not “Cubics Rube” but Rubik’s Cube, and that even after you flash your European ID, the drinking age will still be 21.
Just don’t ask Taylor if you should grab a jacket or not because she’s from Alaska. Don’t wear Crocs because they are not a thing in North Carolina. And accept that when Danza Kuduro comes on at Shooters and you start turning when it says “la media vuelta,” you will bump into so many people because almost no one knows what that means.