Kia ora! My name is Mercy.
I aspire to live with a heart full of gratitude and love and am so grateful for how the Baldwin community supports and inspires this.
My parents are US American but I grew up mostly in New Zealand, so I identify as a third-culture kid. Sometimes I find it hard not to have a clear ‘home’, but I’m very grateful for the connections I have to both places. I have 5 siblings and really enjoy spending time with my family.
Some of the things I’m committed to are:
- Being spiritually active and curious. Currently for me this means taking time to pray and meditate, read spiritually-oriented texts, and talk to people about their spiritual beliefs and practises. Since coming to Duke some of the ways I have nurtured this include long garden walks with friends, being involved in various Christian communities, and taking the course, ‘The Good Life’ about different philosophies and faith traditions.
- Living adventurously. I feel this is better shown in practice than explained in words but if you ever want to talk for a while, ask me about some of my favourite adventures or what I currently have on my bucket list. Or propose a run or bike or swim or spontaneous adventure of some sort. I’m probably keen :)
- Working towards a more equitable future. I really don’t know what I want to ‘do’ after university, or even fully what I want to focus on while still at uni. But I do know that I am committed to using my opportunities and privilege to improve people’s lives. I’m studying Mechanical Engineering so maybe that will be involved. But maybe not. I’ve really enjoyed taking human geography classes about international ‘development’ the last couple semesters so that’s one of my current interests.
I love running into the ocean and journaling with friends :)