My name is Ella Bilu, and I am from Los Angeles, California.
As long as I can remember, I’ve been asking questions. Curiosity defined my childhood, and I both embraced and analyzed all that my schooling threw at me. I never left a lesson without knowing why — why a math equation worked the way it did, why an event happened in history, or why humans are the way that we are.
My inclination to ask rather than to automatically accept has pushed me in my academic and extracurricular endeavors, shaping how I view myself as a relentless journalist, bold leader, and engaged student.
For seven years before coming to Duke, I attended an all-girls school whose primary goal was to empower women’s voices. It was there, in seventh grade, that I found myself gravitating toward the school’s newspaper. I wanted to tell truthful stories, inform my school’s community, and improve my writing.
Crafting articles about everything from Holocaust education to women’s basketball to my hometown’s devastating experience with the Eaton Fire, I turned questions I had into thoughtful narratives. At Duke, I’m interested in doing the same, and I am currently pursuing a major in Public Policy and a minor in Journalism and Media.
Right now, I’m a women’s basketball beat writer and news reporter for The Chronicle. Beyond my involvement in student journalism, I serve on my house council, work with Jewish groups, and attend every political guest speaker visit I can, among a few other commitments I’m excited to continue in the coming semesters.
I am so proud and excited to be a Baldwin Scholar, and I cannot wait to continue questioning, learning, and forming my beliefs in this program.