I was at Duke.
While it is true that Duke University is located in the city of Durham, North Carolina, being at Duke has nothing to do with being in Durham. Throughout freshmen and sophomore years, I spent the majority of my time during the school years on campus. Whether being crushed by an unimaginable amount of work, or getting lost amidst campus constructions, I rarely physically left campus. Even when I did, it was mainly for grabbing dinner with Duke people or hanging out with senior friends who have off-campus apartments. When I was walking the streets of Durham, I was never there.
A week ago during lunch break one day, my fellow DukeEngage interns (Harsh, Marissa, and Aubrey) and I had a conversation about why Duke students often “disengaged” themselves from Durham. The probable causes were diverse: Duke’s more isolated campuses, long transportation time, the difference in Duke’s and Durham’s demographic, workload, etc. The list went on and on. But we were not quite sure. Maybe this was not the right question to ask. Maybe we should think about how to truly a part of Durham.
The answer is quite easy then. Know its history.
Through DukeEngage programming, I learn about Durham history more in the past two weeks than I have in the past two years. All the resources were there, I just needed someone to nudge me here and there to get me started. There are incredibly wonderful resources about Durham everywhere! Museums, tours, information centers, exhibits, you name it. We just need to take advantage of them. You might ask how knowing the history can help in engaging yourself to Durham? The answer is that we understand the presence by learning the past. I never knew that the West Village apartments were once tobacco-storing warehouses. I never knew that Durham rebranded itself to “the city of medicine” after the tobacco glorious days ended. I never knew that there were so many organizations working to revitalize Durham economy. I never knew that 21c, the funky museum hotel downtown, was the result of the effort to bring new businesses to Durham.
Knowing the history makes me understand, at least to some extent, why certain things in Durham are how they are and where they might be in the future one day. And these basic understandings will bring more engagement in the city. I like to think of it this way. Once I know that Durham has been trying its best to prosper after the fall of tobacco, I cheer for it. I want to see shops and cafes flourishing on Main Street. I want to see more people walking the streets of Durham and enjoy a night evening with their families. Once I am in the loop, I can’t get enough of it. I want to learn more about Durham, what are being done, and how I can do to help. So far, DukeEngage has been getting me started and I can’t wait to see what I will learn during the next four weeks.
I’m rooting for Durham and I hope you will do too someday.