I'm part of the American Predatory Lending and the Global Financial Crisis team. It's the first of its kind to situate the state and local context into questions about the implications of the global financial crisis of 2008. I think the team is really unique because of two major aspects. First, we aim to draw from local, state and national perspectives in service of building an accessible online resource that will deepen public knowledge on the conditions leading to and the causes of the financial crisis. Also, the project takes a multifaceted approach through four different subteams. We use oral histories, legislative and policy analysis assessment of the evolving business landscape, and the data analysis to present this information as a tangible storyline for different viewers.

Our team has around 24 students hailing both from the undergraduate and graduate schools, including the Law School, Fuqua School of Business and the Sanford School of Public Policy. We have four team leads: Professor Edward Balleisen, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies, Professor Lee Reiners, the head of the Global Financial Market Center at the Law School, Deborah Goldstein, the Executive Director of the North Carolina Leadership Forum, and Joseph Smith, the former Commissioner of Banks in North Carolina.

Throughout my time at Duke, I've been involved with a variety of groups and research opportunities. I've been doing research with the History Department for three years. I was a member of the executive committee within the Duke Symphony. [Bass Connections] has been by far the most rewarding experience I've had because it has provided me with a bridge between the classroom and the real world. It has also provided me with the most rewarding leadership opportunity I've had.

I'm the subteam lead for the oral histories subteam, and I work with another five undergraduate and graduate students. It has not only involved teamwork, but also carrying out my own lesson plan and being in charge of the general orientation of the team.

Not only that, but I've been able to engage with individuals that I would have otherwise not really engaged with, high performing students from both the undergraduate and the graduate schools. I’ve been able to both strike a professional relationship with them through Bass Connections and come away with some really good friends from the Law School and from other majors. It's really been a very enriching and rewarding experience, both professionally and personally.

Comments are from a virtual Bass Connections event in Fall 2020.