I was listening with rapt attention to the girl sitting in the front of the classroom as she talked animatedly about her work with the local homeless population. At the club meeting of the Coalition for the Homeless, she described how her grant proposal to allocate money to the homeless was adopted by the local government, and hundreds of homeless people were able to rent homes, get jobs and to start new lives. Talking with her after the presentation, I learned that she was a Duke student. Her passion was an important factor which inspired me to bring these ideas of community service to my Chinese high school when I returned from my exchange year in Raleigh. While volunteering in AIDS-prevalent, poverty-stricken Yunnan Province, I began to notice the ties between local businesses and social welfare. Hongta Tobacco Corporation had monopoly over the entire Yuxi tobacco market which drove the price of tobacco down. This phenomenon occurs throughout China and contributes to the socioeconomic inequality between the cities and the suburbs. Although I have always wanted to become a businessman, it wasn’t until I stumbled upon this particular economic pattern that I realized it requires more than just business skills to solve problems such as this. Therefore, during my college search, my attention was once again drawn to Duke as it offers the Market and Management Program that teaches practical business skills, as well as the humanities in its unique interdisciplinary approach.

However, it is more than just the academics that attract me to Duke. Outside the classroom, I will be an active member of the Duke’s service organizations. On weekends, I will adventure with my friends in the Outing Club. I have lived in North Carolina, and I have friends, from both America and China, who have gone to Duke. I visited the campus and I could feel the school spirit, which I would love to experience for the next four years. I miss the people, the scenery, and most of all, I miss the atmosphere of southern hospitality.