Vickie Kim

Duke

My life’s roadmap has been a mostly blank page flooded with regrets of wandering. I picked up and dropped interests like pencils– instruments, human diseases, and languages, just to name some. There was never enough time to satisfy my curiosity, and with suffocating anxiety stemming from elementary school, it was hard to devote myself to any one thing. 

But despite my lack of direction, Duke University was always marked on my map, initially for its reputable marine biology program (when young me dreamed of being a marine biologist). But even after taking an interest in the human brain, I’ve realized that Duke is where I’d best be able to burn a new path for my future, because its somewhere where I’d be excited to learn.

Within Duke’s liberal arts education, I’d intertwine my interests through courses like “Psychology of Language” and “Music and the Brain”, to connect my fascination of the mind to my passion for music and languages; mayhaps, I could even pick up the photography class I never had space for. Furthermore, to connect to Duke’s community, I’d continue performing through the Chorale and Duke’s chamber music program, and I’d want to take the opportunity of participating in ICC’s. Maybe I’d even be able to push for a Center for Asians, a safespace that’s rather uncommon n white-dominated Alabama.

All I’d need is the opportunity to start the next part of my roadmap.