The summer of 2024 was defined by my growth as a person and hacky sack skills. Below I will explain how and why I grew from my experiences, but a quick note about hacky sacking. I made tens of friends this summer through Hacky Sack. People that I had never talked to before in my life became individuals I trusted because of a fun little game. From random kids in the King Mswatii III airport to killing time with my siblings, everywhere I went, my hacky sack accompanied me, and friendships were born. WIth no language barrier, I could laugh alongside fellow humans and work towards a clear goal. I am thankful for my exposure to such a connecting game and can’t wait for more friends to be made in the circle.
Road-tripping across the United States one and a half times allowed me to reconnect with my past through friends from various moments in my life. I never once had to sleep in a hotel or change my plans, as I had a connected soul in every place I wanted to visit or pass through. With each turn, I understood my country a little more. From the glaring relationship between location and political affiliation to the contrasts of small-town charm vs. suburbanization vs. metropolis life, the human imprint on this land is profound.
Time spent in Durham made me fall in love with Duke and the chapel once again. It's so easy to lose sight of the blessings right in front of you every day. Changing your lens and frame of reference can work wonders on what may feel like mundane surroundings. The STEM summer camp made me reflect on my engineering journey. There was a time when I was in the same shoes as these kids, so I felt proud that I could answer every question they asked and inspire a new wave of engineers. The curriculum development work shed light on how unintelligent the Duke engineering curriculum can be, but that’s a conversation for another time. Once again, connecting with people at Duke was the most special part. Many familiar faces that I didn’t know the names of before are now my companions. No cliques or fraternities dividing us, just a mutual desire to connect as real people.
Africa will never be truly explainable through words or pictures. My family had been apart for far too long, so coming together in pristine nature, far away from our normal lives, felt like stepping into a portal to another world. Before leaving for Africa, I wanted a picture with my grandma, holding hands, with a beautiful backdrop. A day into the trip, while crossing the bridge I helped build in Eswatini, we got that picture, capturing a memory that will live in my heart forever. Traveling to Owen’s site was heart-wrenching but inspiring. It’s by far the most remote community I’ve ever witnessed, and Owen has fully assimilated into a rich culture, becoming a family member. The kids know one word in English: “Owen,” and they love screaming his name. Touring the school, I saw the value of a single piece of paper, the importance of having a place to sit, the mental development that occurs when you have a pencil—or don’t. I realized how lucky I was to have teachers who weren’t drunk at school and the opportunities my schools afforded me. Owen’s village school excels in literacy, attendance, and leadership, but they lack so many basic necessities we take for granted. Moving into the bush, I reconnected with nature, played a lot of hacky sack, and spent almost every waking moment either learning about my surroundings, laughing with the people I love most, or making a fool of myself. There’s a whole world out there that you should see.
Finally, my trip to China. I was selected to attend a boot camp through a program at Duke in partnership with the Chinese government. I studied Chinese throughout middle and high school, and I’ve always dreamed of exploring the historically rich land. The program was regimented and organized, which didn’t align with my preferred travel style, but I appreciated not having to think or plan anything—I just went where I was told. Traveling through the Jiangsu province, I saw what happens when humanity is taken out of human environments. With rapid expansion and development, art and culture weren’t prioritized. These cities made me feel like I had been scaled down into city planners' models. I didn’t even believe the trees were real until I broke off a leaf. Regardless, I achieved a life goal of ordering dumplings in China—in Chinese. I also learned that China isn’t solely to blame for their environmental impact. The United States profited greatly from China’s low-cost manufacturing and doesn’t take responsibility for the carbon China had to emit to meet our demands. It goes to show that this fight against climate change is all of our responsibility, and we need to solve it together.