Duke Divinity School 2021 -2024

What a beautiful and challenging journey!

I met so many wonderful people during my time at Duke Divinity, some of whom I had the privilege of taking pictures with 🙂 This post is my journal entry of memories at Duke Div.

There’s Max Miller, my bench mate. I must be double his age 😉 We sat beside each other through the two Old Testament classes under Dr. Strawn. Dr. Strawn is among the top five professors who inspired me and spurred my imagination. I cannot talk about inspiration without mentioning Dr. Jonathan Anderson. I am so grateful for the work God is doing in and through both Dr. Strawn and Dr. Anderson. Dr. Anderson’s insights into Church History and Christian Theology through Visual Art run deep. We discussed the Scriptures, history, theology, materiality of religion, and the visuality of faith in his class “Visual Theology.” His class was one I wished never ended. I was introduced to Dr. Anderson by Dr. Dan Train for my first directed study on The History of Christian Art in India. Dr. Train has a gift of networking, encouraging, and supporting students and their ideas. He helped me set up the Student Art Gallery for the community and my solo work, The Contemplative Art Exhibit, at Duke Divinity. He also really gets what it means to be an international student 🙂

Laron, Angelicia, Beth, Takudzwa, Megan, Arthur, Maggie, and Justin are a few other classmates who helped me navigate my first year at Duke. From academics to procedures and opportunities, these guys, among others, were always available to answer questions. Justin always shared his study guides for the Old and New Testament classes, which helped me a great deal. He rallied the entire class for review sessions, which was also super helpful. Laron, Angelicia, and Beth were windows to the struggles on the issues of race and religion in the American context through their personal stories. Taku, Sooa, Ranmi, Tomoko, Hendrawan, Jae, Incheol, Paul, and Jongyap are fellow International students – we knew each other’s challenges. Reading, writing, and comprehending all those readings and assignments seemed like a task I could not handle alone. My combined studies with them were so productive. I enjoyed conversing with Incheol about capitalism and its effects on the non-western world. Our perspectives were different from the general American understanding within Duke Div. Hendrawn, from Indonesia, is like a walking Christian encyclopedia. He has read almost every book there is to be read. 🙂 Tomoko, my prayer partner. I cherish our times of prayer together. And how could I not mention Megan? She was the very first person I met at Orientation in 2021, and she is from Kentucky!!! I was so delighted to meet someone from Kentucky which I always called my second home because of Asbury Theological Seminary..

At Duke, the large classes are split into smaller discussion groups led by PhD candidates. I had the honor of knowing Taylor Ross as a Preceptor for my Old Testament and Christian Theology classes. He created a safe, nonthreatening atmosphere for discussions and really listened to us. I wish I had him for more discussion groups. You could tell he really wanted to know what we were thinking. Despite his knowledge of the topics, one could tell he wasn’t there simply to correct us but to learn alongside us. Another preceptor who was generous with his time was Andrew Hendrixson, a seasoned Western artist. He helped polish my artist statements for the Yale Conference on Ecology and Spirituality.

I had the pleasure of getting to know some staff members at the school. Robert just made life easier for us. During our first year, Westbrook 0015 had a case of ants. They bit us, bothered us during lectures, and got into our bags, etc. Robert came to our rescue every time 🙂 Sometimes, he would cheer me on when he saw me working on a paper in a classroom (I preferred the empty classrooms to the library because they were warmer and you could eat while you read and /or write ;)). Featured in the collage below are other staff members I worked with – Tasha and Kristin Lobiondo from the Student Affairs Communication Office, Andromeda Connor from the International Student Center, and Valerie Halbert from the Center for Reconciliation are some of them. I worked with them in different capacities. All of my work as a student at Duke was ordained by God (well, technically, everything was ordained by God, but I can look back and see how God let me walk into each of those jobs at the right time). At a time when I was still figuring out the ropes and wondering how to navigate student life, I joined the International Student Office. When funding reduced work hours at IHouse, I moved to the Student Affairs Communication Office, where I enjoyed – web maintenance, graphics, and photography 🙂 I also worked with DITA on graphics and maintained their database. (Getting to do an Internship with DITA was a MIraculous event in itself).

There is so much more I can say about my time at Duke, but I will stop here to say it was an intense, impactful stretching of the mind and the heart of my life. I have gained some skills, used some I already had, and am grappling with more questions and ideas that will affect how I use my head and heart to live. Thank you, Jesus!

In 2021, I was unsure if this was where I should be. But God had placed different people to help me along the way – there were some to answer questions about Duke and other seminaries I was considering; there were many who were praying, and there was Dr. Ruth who, like Pat Richmond in ATS, set up our home with many donated things from New Creation UMC. By the time we moved in, we had beds, dishes, utensils, tables, and chairs 🙂 I even borrowed Dr. Ruth’s NRSV Bible for the first semester. Now, in 2024, I am grateful to God for nudging me to Duke. Thank you, God, and Thanks to all who have helped me during my time here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.