My name is Shruti Rao and I hail from the concrete jungle that is otherwise else known as Dallas, Texas. Dallas was a great place to go to high school, but I have actually lived in seven different cities and attended ten different schools. My experiences living all over the country have shaped me into the person I am today.
First off, I want to say how incredibly honored and excited I am to begin my Duke journey as a Baldwin Scholar. The Alice M. Baldwin Scholars program inspires me with its dedication to supporting strong, independent women to learn from one another and thrive here at Duke.
On campus, I am involved as a columnist and copy editor in the Duke Chronicle and writer for the Duke Consulting Review. My interest in technology led me to be involved on the Executive Board of Hack for Humanity, a student group committed to innovate computer science solutions to social justice issues. I am also extremely passionate about the school-to-prison pipeline in Texas and the way it is impacting minority and low-income youth, which led me to be a Human Rights Fellow at the Kenan Institute of Ethics.
I believe that we are each the sum totals and products of all our experience in life, which means we each have the opportunity to shape ourselves by choosing the experiences we partake in. I am proud and excited to have the Alice M. Baldwin Scholars program in my life and look forward to growing with this inspiring group of women for the rest of my Duke career and beyond.
If you have any questions about the Alice M. Baldwin Scholars program or would just like to talk feel free to email me at shruti.rao@duke.edu