Hello! I am Elizabeth (Fizzy) Horne, one of the three Elizabeth’s in the Baldwin Scholars class of 2017! With one parent from the US and the other from the UK, I associate myself with both sides of the pond. I was born and raised in England and happily call west London home.
Coming to Duke from a relatively small girls’ school just outside of the city, I have grown up with a strong appreciation for the role of women and have been shown the importance of finding self-confidence and self-respect across all aspects of life. As an aspiring pre-med student I hope to one day leave an impact on the world of medicine. Currently, I find this to be a heavily male-dominated profession and I want to contribute to bringing the much needed changes to the limited, pre-determined expectations of women in the field. Despite being set on my career path as a doctor, I am still not completely sure of what I want to major in. Academically, I have always been drawn towards the biology departments and since being at Duke I have found new interests in global health and women’s studies, so I intend to integrate them into my schedule over my four years here.
A large part of my time on campus is spent with the Duke Women’s Rowing Team. I have always been attracted to water, competition, and pushing my limits; for me, rowing is the perfect fit. I picked it up at age 15 with my school team and since then it has been a huge influence on my life. Through representing my school for a number of years and then being a member of the Great Britain Junior team for my last three years of high school, the sport has helped shape me as a person and has been a great way to channel my competitve spirit. As a quiet person by nature, I am a strong believer in the notion that ‘actions speak louder than words,’ and I hope to express my passion for female empowerment in everything that I do; I have found that rowing is a perfect outlet for me to do so. Now as one of fifty members of the all-female rowing team of at Duke, I have the perfect opportunity to integrate with another great network of women and to utilise the lessons that I have gained from my experiences in the Baldwin program.
Although my sport takes up the majority of time outside of studying, I’d like to say that I am a fairly involved student on campus. In addition to the Baldwin Program, I am also part of the CAPE Program (Collegiate Althete Premedical Experience), Duke University tour guide, and a member of Alpha Phi sorority. Being active on campus is something I think is very important, so I am trying to embrace all of the wonderful opportunities currently available.
I want to finish by saying how incredibly excited and honoured I am to have been selected as a Baldwin Scholar. The sense of community that the program has provided for me so far is something that has already impacted my Duke experience hugely; to be surrounded by such a great group of individuals sharing a passion for female empowerment and equality is irreplacable. I feel so fortunate to be a part this program and I can’t wait to continue developing my personal and leadership skills with this unique group of diverse, talented and interesting young women!
"Don’t worry about what we should do. Just do what you can do" – Gloria Steinem