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I am a multi-dimensional woman with a new dream every day and barely any fears along the way. I graduated from Duke in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and a minor in African-American Studies (after almost minoring in French and Math). While at Duke, I was a member of the varsity track and field and cross country teams where I served as team captain for 2 years. I had a difficult to transition to collegiate athletics and ended up injured my first year but fortunately, it gave me a gift of a fifth year of athletics and academics. In my fifth year, I received my Masters of Mangement studies from the Fuqua School of Business.
After attending an all-girls high school in St. Louis, Missouri I was a little lost when I matriculated at Duke and there were boys everywhere - in the classroom, in my dorm, in the cafeteria, at the library...I couldn't escape them. I instantly missed the safety and comfort I felt in all-women spaces and I sought to recreate those spaces for myself at Duke. This is what originally attracted me to Baldwin Scholars but I fell in love with the affirming environment, the firm but loving care, and the giggles with friends.
After I left Duke, I started a winding career that included some years as a professional track athlete and part-time babysitter and paralegal, a sales intern, a product marketing manager at a consumer electronics company and then an e-commerce company, and finally working in consulting and development in Ethiopia. Seems a little wild right? If there is one thing I've learned about myself it's that I'm wild. Some things are left half-finished and some things I take to 110% and I'm learning not to feel bad about it. I laugh as hard as I cry. I listen to my gut and let my intuition lead me. I believe in karma and good energy and although karma has definitely let me down, those hard lessons were some of the best. Those lessons changed me at my very essence and inched me closer to my core and closer to the woman I always imagined I could be.
My interests include (but are not limited to) fashion, stand-up comedy, environmental justice, sustainability and regenerative production processes, marketing & brand management, tarot, horoscopes, dancing, running, yoga, writing, wine, and family. I'm currently working in Ethiopia for an international development agency focused on developing market solutions to reduce poverty amongst smallholder farmers. Happy to chat over email anytime: cydney.m.ross@gmail.com.