Meet the new Administrative Assistant for the Office of Global Affairs
-By Charles Givens
March 19, 2025
There’s a specific reason you wanted to work at Duke. Can you go into detail about that?
- Duke University Hospital was my baby girl and I’s home for 5 months. I was fighting for my life with severe preeclampsia and my baby girl had to arrive 3 months before her due date making her a 27-weeker also known as a “preemie,” but let’s be real she’s a whole Miracle. The nurses and doctors that were around us day and night have a lot to do with my Miracle and I still being here and thriving. I could write a whole story about our experience leading up to Duke, during Duke and after Duke. I am thankful for the hands-on working environment that the university provides. I had some of the best med students take care of me during later announced high-risk pregnancy and delivery and even with my post C-section DVT and PE. The NICU Nurses and NPs are just fantastic (if it wasn’t for one of the nurses in the NICU catching my DVT, who knows what life would look like). Let’s not forget the peds cardiologist caring for and monitoring my Miracle’s Ebstein’s anomaly during my pregnancy and even now. A Doctor told me during this time that the heart has a mind of its own and it changes all the time. My heart changed from just loving Duke basketball to loving Duke University all together. I’m healthy and my daughter is healthy because we had Duke by our side so, having the opportunity to work with the University is an opportunity I was not going to pass up. I feel incredibly blessed to be on staff here to help contribute to Duke’s mission and values.
What’s the most surprising or unexpected thing you’ve encountered since starting at Duke?
- I didn’t realize that Duke was everywhere I turned here in Durham. I go down the street and I’m like that’s part of the University or Duke University owns that, etc. It’s kind of funny.
How does the atmosphere at Duke compare to your previous experiences, and what stands out the most?
- The atmosphere here at Duke feels like a close-knit family. As an outsider, you see or hear Duke and are in awe of its historical charm that’s so huge and mysterious, and then you join as a team member and I’m looking at Duke from the inside. It’s like I joined a family that has different branches.
What’s the last book, movie or podcast you really enjoyed?
- Let’s be real, Wicked is running the show. I didn’t think it would, but I was wrong. I LOVE IT. Don’t @ me.
Some use music or the “Pomodoro Technique,” so what is your go-to method for staying productive?
- Yes, music saves lives and music saves my productivity. You can thank music for when I turn in something that needed to be done. The music helped me get it done.
Clik here to view.
Tell us about the most impactful piece of advice you’ve received in your career so far?
- “Google everything. Google is how I went from being an admin to a director.” A previous boss told me that and it stuck. Now, I Google everything.
What’s one thing you’re really good at that most people wouldn’t guess?
- I’m really good at being a Bob the Builder if need be. Really, I am!
What’s a passion of yours that might surprise your colleagues?
- I’m very passionate about family and everything that comes with that.
If you could see a live performance of any artist/group (living or dead), which one would it be and why?
- UM, THE JONAS BROTHERS, DUH! I would want to be able to see them as a child. I saw them as an adult, but as a child, I bet I would have gone crazy (in a good way).
If you could have dinner with any fictional character, who would it be and why?
- Probably Iron Man, so he can end the date by taking me to Stark Tower so I can see all of Manhattan.
Clik here to view.
