#dukealumni

[hayeshargrove]

What a fun night with awesome friends and comedy. And one of us got a shoutout from Chow. #kenjeong #dukealumni #standup #goodtimes (at Laugh Factory) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnmps8fgj9n/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=14kkojwoslyrf

[dukeglobaled]

Why I booked a one-way ticket to Dubai after graduation from Duke

My Study Abroad Path: Emily Crutcher ‘06

“Completely exasperated with my job search after graduation, I got a one-way ticket to Dubai. During one of my interviews, I was asked why they should hire me. In retrospect, they were probably wondering why an American girl was trying to get a job in commercial real estate in Dubai.”

After graduation from Duke, Emily Adair Crutcher '06, moved back home to Charlotte, N.C. and began applying for jobs with real estate developers and commercial real estate firms in the Middle East. To her dismay, she found that none of the companies would take her application seriously because she was not living in the region. Rather than closing the door on that path, Emily sealed her commitment to her job search by booking a one-way ticket to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  

Emily landed an interview with JLL, a global professional services firm specializing in commercial real estate. When the interviewer asked why the company should hire her, Emily pointed to the various global activities she had pursued while at Duke – a semester studying away at the American University of Beirut, Arabic language coursework, and a summer internship in Amman, Jordan with the U.S. State Department – as evidence of her interest in the Middle East. 

On campus at the American University of Beirut

Emily also referenced an academic excursion arranged through her architecture course in Beirut. The instructor took the class to visit the offices of Solidere, the company responsible for the master planning and redevelopment of Beirut's city center after the civil war. Upon hearing this, the JLL interviewer smiled and shared that Solidere was one of her clients. 

The interview was a success, and Emily began her career with JLL in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2007. She worked on the strategic consulting team, advising developers and investors on the feasibility of development projects.

The path towards Emily's career beginning might seem straightforward, but like most people, Emily experienced a variety of twists and turns during her four years at Duke. In fact, it was not until her senior year that she gained the clarity to steer towards a career in real estate. 

Emily credits her study away experiences for helping her discover an untapped interest in architecture and urban planning. She actually studied away for two semesters – Duke in Berlin for a fall semester, and the American University of Beirut the following spring. It was in Berlin that she enrolled in an architecture course as an elective. She was so interested in architecture that she took two more architecture courses the following semester in Beirut. 

Excursion to Beiteddine Palace, Lebanon

By physically being in Berlin and Beirut while studying those cities' rich histories, Emily was able to connect her classroom learning to the host locations. She explained, "I spent countless hours wandering around both cities, investigating how each city had implemented urban redevelopment plans to stitch together cities which had been divisively separated (i.e., the Berlin Wall after World War II and the Green Zone after Lebanon's Civil War). Upon my return to Duke, I began to form the idea that a job in urban planning or real estate might fit my interests."

Prior to her senior year, Emily's career interests were a moving target. Growing up, Emily's family instilled in her the value of being a global citizen. In middle school and high school, Emily’s family hosted exchange students from Toulouse, France and Krefeld, Germany, respectively. In turn, Emily traveled to those countries to stay with the students’ families. By the time she got to Duke, she knew that studying abroad was in her future, and she could imagine an international career, but the shape that vision took often shifted. 

Visiting Crusader Castles with Professor Meloy

When asked to reflect on her career aspirations while at Duke, Emily laughed and said, "I assure you, I had not assiduously mapped out my career path when I was an undergrad. At best, I knew a few things I did not want to do. I also knew I wanted adventure – international adventure! As I began to feel pressured to 'figure it all out,' all I could figure out was that a job with the State Department or the Central Intelligence Agency might offer international adventure."

Thinking that an internship with the U.S. State Department might pave the way, she interned the summer after her sophomore year at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. Looking back, she said, "The internship was helpful in that I realized I did not want to work for the U.S. State Department. And that was the summer I fell in love with the Middle East."

Emily's affinity for the Middle East inspired her study away choices her junior year – she knew going back would be transformative: "I thought studying abroad, particularly in Beirut, would be a ticket into the CIA. With Arabic language skills and a semester at the American University of Beirut, I thought the CIA would send a secret operative to recruit me. Well, I failed the Foreign Service exam and no secret operative ever recruited me!" 

A trip to Prague while studying in Berlin

Even though studying for a semester in Beirut was not transformative in the way Emily anticipated, it was indeed pivotal in guiding her to a career that offered – and continues to offer – an incredible international adventure. 

She ended up staying with JLL in Dubai for five years, working her way up to an associate with the strategic consulting department. She then transferred to JLL's public institutions team in New York City, where she advised state governments, city governments, transportation agencies and public universities on public-private partnerships. After four years in the Big Apple, Emily moved back to her hometown, Charlotte. Now as a vice president with the company, she continues to work for JLL's public institutions team focusing on clients across the Southeast.

Emily acknowledges that her post-graduation path may not be the norm: "While I'm probably one of a handful of Class of 2006 graduates still working for the same company, not only has JLL facilitated my professional growth and supported my life/work balance, but the company has provided me with impactful and interesting work. I cannot underscore the importance of actually enjoying what you do for a living."

When asked what advice Emily has for students who are unsure about studying away, she said, "Go! You will need the soft skills you acquire while living abroad when you leave the Gothic Wonderland. You will need a global perspective on the world to successfully compete in tomorrow's workforce."  

Story by Jill Powell, Duke GEO Marketing & Recruitment Manager

[douglagirlcreates]

Met this lady about 7 years ago in Tobago. Come to find out that she went to Duke Ellington (my high school) and lives and works between DC / T&T...just like me! So happy to reunite with my Caribbean sister @bianca.clinton 7 years later, to have met her son and support black businesses in our community today! #media #kids #literacy #community #culture #entrepreneurs #vans #international #dc #dukealumni #dmv #T&T 🇹🇹 (at Silver Spring Civic Center)

[sixteenbytwenty-blog]

H2O.

[dukeannualfund]

Check out examples of all that donors make possible across Duke in 2015

[dukeannualfund]

15 Things Made Possible in 2015 Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

More than half of Duke’s undergraduates receive financial aid, which is made possible in part by gifts to the Annual Fund in support of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. Thanks to your donations this year, talented students like Rosie Williams are able to attend Duke.

When most other high school seniors were worrying about SAT scores and admissions essays, Rosie’s biggest concern was how she and her family would afford tuition at a top school like Duke. But that changed when she received her financial aid package.

“With a big family comes big financial stresses, and I feared a financial aid officer wouldn’t understand the nuances of my story. And most did not. But Duke was different. Duke listened. Duke cared,” said Rosie, a rising senior from Madeira Beach, Florida, majoring in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

“To me, financial aid is more than money. It’s a life-altering experience. Duke has shaped who I am today in so many ways—I’ve been taught by phenomenal professors, learned two new languages, participated in academic research, and even discovered my life passion of studying art. But it was the financial aid office that opened the door to all the boundless opportunities that Duke offers. I know that Annual Fund gifts in support of Trinity College are what make my financial aid possible, and I’m incredibly grateful for all the donors who support the fund each and every year. Thank you!

Check out more examples of all that donors make possible across Duke

[dukeannualfund]

15 Things Made Possible in 2015 Sanford School of Public Policy

For the first time in the school’s young history, Sanford reached a new milestone, raising more than $700,000 from over 1,500 donors in Annual Fund support.

Thanks to your Annual Fund dollars this year, 15 first-year M.P.P. students are participating in a pilot mentoring program involving nine M.P.P. alumni, four faculty members, and two public policy Ph.D. candidates. The program will offer these students additional opportunities to enhance their professional development and interpersonal communication skills, as well as gain insight into career planning.

Check out more examples of all that donors make possible across Duke

[dukeannualfund]

15 Things Made Possible in 2015 Pratt School of Engineering

Engineers today work in teams around the world, engaging in projects that often involve colleagues in many far-flung locations all at once. So it’s more important than ever that engineering students gain international experience before heading into the marketplace.

The Annual Fund helped make these transformational experiences possible for many students last year. More than a third of the engineering Class of 2015 studied abroad—a number far higher than most other engineering schools—while another 25 percent participated in volunteer activities overseas.

“A lot of people think engineers only need to deal with numbers and equations and don’t need to bother with the softer sciences, but that’s so far from the truth,” said Katrina Wisdom E’12, now a graduate research fellow at Stanford University. “In an increasingly global economy, everyone is going to be working or conducting research with people of different ethnicities.”

"My Duke experience has allowed me to truly experience how engineering can be applied to help solve some of the biggest problems in today's world,” added Kendall Covington, E’15, a Duke Grand Challenge Scholar who participated in research and service projects in Africa and Nicaragua. “Never could I have imagined that I would be heading up a project to potentially light up an entire community in Kenya, or that I would be independently designing medical technologies to help improve clinical care in such an under-resourced setting!"

Check out more examples of all that donors make possible across Duke