| Frosh Adds to Accolades
Richard Lee Strasburger Jr. says that his
decision to attend Duke was based primarily on the university's
academic reputation, but an additional, if minor, factor was that
it also satisfied one of his mother's wishes--it wasn't too far
from his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. He says he was
impressed by Duke's strengths in both mathematics and music--something
he says can be hard to find at one school.
Strasburger, who enrolled at Duke this fall, is the recipient of
this year's Alumni Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship, established
by the Duke Alumni Association in 1979 to recognize the academic,
extracurricular, and personal achievements of children and grandchildren
of Duke alumni who are accepted for undergraduate admission to
Duke. Strasburger's grandfather was the Reverend George H. Ricks
'34.
It is not just Strasburger's mother who is glad he is staying in
the Carolinas. He says his love of scuba diving and backpacking,
the beach and the mountains, will be well served from a home base
in Durham. (Strasburger has been on nearly thirty dives, including
one in eight-foot swells, where the waves rose as high as sixteen
feet.)
In high school, he participated in cross country, "one of
the most challenging activities I have done so far," he says. "The
mental push required to run harder than you should for longer than
you can is something that I do not come by easily. But when it
does come, it is amazing."
Many of Strasburger's accomplishments involve his desire to push
himself. "Coming into and then out of my board of review for
Eagle Scout was a very thrilling experience," he says of his
experience in the Boy Scouts. "I was definitely the youngest
scout [at age thirteen] that board had seen in a long time, and
I was very nervous and excited during the whole ordeal."
For his final project to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, he made
and installed bat houses for Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve,
a nonprofit oasis in the midst of Spartanburg. He then educated
people about the benefits of bats, including their propensity for
eating mosquitoes, and worked to dispel negative myths about the
creatures. Last year he was one of the representatives from the
southeast region's Boy Scouts at the national Jamboree, where he
taught "leave no trace" camping for the Department of
the Interior. In addition to his outdoor activities, he sings and
plays the viola.
Strasburger says he's excited about becoming involved at Duke. "I
can't wait to immerse myself in college life." While he is
fairly certain he knows what he wants to do, he adds, he is open
to following his varied interests. "Class is only half of
the experience. However, I plan on being a pre-med student with
hopes of being an oral surgeon," he says. "Plus, I would
love to take some classes that involve the Lemur Center and basically
anything that seems to be interesting."
The Undergraduate Alumni Endowed Scholarship is a four-year, full-tuition
scholarship for students with demonstrated financial need. The
scholarship also pays for a summer academic experience of the scholar's
choice, including the opportunity to study abroad. In addition,
scholars are invited to participate in special educational, social,
and cultural programming on campus during their Duke career.
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