Thoughts on Citizenship

When I first met with Winter Brown, the DukeEngage Durham Program Coordinator, she asked me what was on my mind. My response to her was “citizenship.” For some time, I had been wondering what it was to be a citizen of a place. Because I often think in questions, I probably bombarded Winter with many of the questions that raced through my mind when I thought about this topic. Some of those questions are written below.

What does it mean to be a citizen of Durham? What does it mean for me, a college student, who may only be here four years, to be a part of the Durham community? Does citizenship go beyond volunteering, engaging in service-learning, and spending time in our local communities? Can I be a “citizen” and just get food on campus, grab a movie from Lilly Library, and spend time with my Duke friends? Do I have to enjoy indie rock and going to the Broad Street Café on Friday nights? Do I have to have my voter registration moved from Tennessee to North Carolina? Do I need to feel comfortable giving people directions in downtown Durham?

Some of these questions may seem silly, but with so much talk about Duke students being a part of the Durham community, I wanted to know what that really means and looks like in real life. I have volunteered in Durham since I got to Duke, but I still was not sure what it meant for me to feel like I was a part of Durham. I certainly felt connected to Durham through my service work, but not necessarily like I was part of Durham. While this may seem like a fine distinction, it is best likened to feeling like a visitor rather than a resident or local. I wanted to know what it was to feel like I too was a Durham resident.

As I thought about this more throughout the summer, I tried to be conscious of the times when I felt like I was a part of Durham. I realized that for me, even though my daily work of being in the hospital helped me feel like I was part of Durham, there was something that I was missing. While it may seem frivolous, it was the extra things that made me feel like part of the community. For example, DukeEngage went out to a Durham Bulls game, and while at the game, I ran into one of the nurse practitioners who works in the sickle cell clinic. We just said hello to each other, but I started to feel like I knew people in Durham. Another experience I have had where I felt like I was part of Durham was being a counselor at Camp Kaleidoscope, the Duke Children’s Hospital camp for kids with chronic illnesses. Vivian is one of the camp directors for one of the three weeks of the camp, and for the past two years, I have been a counselor. What makes me feel like a part of Durham during that week is that even though Vivian is there, I mainly spend time with the campers and other counselors who are other hospital staff. Thus, although my involvement in the sickle cell project put me in the position to be there, the feeling of community comes from establishing relationships that go beyond the day-to-day work. Thus, for me, feeling like I am a part of Durham doesn’t have to do with what I do on weekend nights or what kinds of entertainment I enjoy, but rather, it is the quality of relationships I have been able to develop with people in Durham and outside of Duke.

-Grant Smith