Aven Schwartz

My name is Aven Schwartz, and I am so grateful to be joining this wonderful group of women as a Baldwin Scholar. I have lived in Durham my whole life and absolutely love the people and environment that the Triangle has to offer. Since before I can remember, I have informally analyzed how my experiences are shaped by my gender and what it means to be a successful woman. This emerged through conversations with friends about teachers' perceptions of classmates, career aspirations, and groups focused on female leadership. I am extremely excited to have a community on Duke’s campus to further explore what it means to show up as a female leader. 

I started dancing when I was five and that quickly became my most time-intensive extracurricular. Dance provided me with a creative outlet, exercise, different standards of success and failure, and most importantly, a community of girls who supported each other immensely. Dancing in a group taught me how to rely on others, show up as my authentic self, and collaborate. The values of collaboration and connecting with others transferred over into other areas of my life, which became clear in high school. I quickly became involved in Student Government, where I worked diligently to create a sense of school spirit and community following Covid.

While I may not have realized it when I was younger, this sense of responsibility to the world was instilled by both my parents. My mother has demonstrated how a woman can value her role as a mother while simultaneously remaining committed to doing work that betters the world for everyone. My father also works in public service, so the value of social responsibility has always surrounded me. Additionally, my parents ensured that I grew up connected to my Judaism - sending me to Hebrew school and Jewish camps. They emphasized the Jewish value of tikkun olam, repairing the world, as a daily practice.

At Duke, I am planning to major in Public Policy with minors in Political Science and Statistics. On campus, I dance in the group Momentum, volunteer with the Backpack Project and GANO, and serve on the executive board for AIM, a program focused on mentoring local high school students through the college application process. I am passionate about nearly all public policy domains, but I am particularly interested in homelessness, income inequality, political polarization, and reproductive justice. In my free time, I enjoy baking, reading, playing mahjong, and traveling to new places. I look forward to all that I am going to learn throughout my time here!