I am a first-generation high school graduate, a first-generation college graduate, and now a first-generation MBA graduate. I am also, as far as anyone can tell, the first person from Dominica to enroll in the Daytime MBA program at Fuqua. Not the Dominican Republic. Dominica: a small island of roughly 70,000 people in the Eastern Caribbean, and one that rarely comes up in business school conversations. Enrolling here meant entering a world I had never inhabited before, with the chance to introduce a community of globally-minded people to a place most of them had never heard of. It was exciting. It was also deeply intimidating, and imposter syndrome was a constant companion from day one.
I remember saying early on that Fuqua felt like a whole new world. The environments and assumed experiences were all unfamiliar. But I was quickly struck by how much I had in common with the people around me. We were all heavily goal-oriented, and about to face the same gauntlet of exams, recruiting, and everything in between.
When introducing myself, I would say I was from the Caribbean, assuming most people didn’t know about Dominica. My classmates pushed back. They asked where in the Caribbean, and when I hesitated, they encouraged me not to generalize, not to shrink my authenticity for convenience, but to say I’m from Dominica. That small shift impacted how I showed up in every room afterward.
Without an obvious identity-based community to lean on, I let my interests lead. I joined the Business in Africa Club, the Christian Business Fellowship, the Duke MBA Energy Club, the MBA Association, and more. It took time, but the relationships I built across those spaces, with people from genuinely different backgrounds and corners of the world, became some of the most meaningful of my time here.
Fuqua also made the world more accessible. Since arriving, I have traveled to nearly a dozen new countries across three continents, many alongside classmates. I led a Global Academic Travel Experience (GATE) to South Africa, traveled through Southeast Asia, and visited China. Each trip was immersive in a different way — lions on the savanna, elephant sanctuaries, a civilization so vast I stopped trying to comprehend it and simply tried to be present. In every destination, I was also myself, a person from a small Caribbean island, and never shied away from bringing that perspective into the conversation.
That instinct carried into the classroom. In Climate, Sustainability, and Corporate Governance, we examined Guyana’s emergence as a new oil producer. For me, it was personal. I spoke about what that kind of resource discovery means for a small Caribbean nation — the promise and the historical weight behind it.
As a fellow with the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE), I found the intellectual home I hadn’t known I was looking for. Energy, sustainability, and economic equity were never abstract concerns for me. Fuqua gave me the language and tools to do something with them.
Even so, imposter syndrome has a long memory. The gap between my background and that of many classmates surfaced often. The shift came during a session with Maria Kim of the Redefine Alliance, who pointed out that the room was not built with people like me in mind. Measuring yourself against a standard designed for someone else is beside the point and has no bearing on your belonging or contribution. That perspective didn’t eliminate the doubt, but it redirected my energy toward what I was actually here to do.
As I celebrate graduation, I am proud. Proud of the community I found, the perspective I contributed, and the person I became here. To anyone wondering whether a place like Fuqua could be for them: it can. I hope my being here makes that a little easier to believe.
The post How I Embraced My Identity as a Fuqua First appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog.
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Entering Fuqua
I remember saying early on that Fuqua felt like a whole new world. The environments and assumed experiences were all unfamiliar. But I was quickly struck by how much I had in common with the people around me. We were all heavily goal-oriented, and about to face the same gauntlet of exams, recruiting, and everything in between.
When introducing myself, I would say I was from the Caribbean, assuming most people didn’t know about Dominica. My classmates pushed back. They asked where in the Caribbean, and when I hesitated, they encouraged me not to generalize, not to shrink my authenticity for convenience, but to say I’m from Dominica. That small shift impacted how I showed up in every room afterward.
Without an obvious identity-based community to lean on, I let my interests lead. I joined the Business in Africa Club, the Christian Business Fellowship, the Duke MBA Energy Club, the MBA Association, and more. It took time, but the relationships I built across those spaces, with people from genuinely different backgrounds and corners of the world, became some of the most meaningful of my time here.
Traveling With Purpose and Bold Expression
Fuqua also made the world more accessible. Since arriving, I have traveled to nearly a dozen new countries across three continents, many alongside classmates. I led a Global Academic Travel Experience (GATE) to South Africa, traveled through Southeast Asia, and visited China. Each trip was immersive in a different way — lions on the savanna, elephant sanctuaries, a civilization so vast I stopped trying to comprehend it and simply tried to be present. In every destination, I was also myself, a person from a small Caribbean island, and never shied away from bringing that perspective into the conversation.
That instinct carried into the classroom. In Climate, Sustainability, and Corporate Governance, we examined Guyana’s emergence as a new oil producer. For me, it was personal. I spoke about what that kind of resource discovery means for a small Caribbean nation — the promise and the historical weight behind it.
As a fellow with the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE), I found the intellectual home I hadn’t known I was looking for. Energy, sustainability, and economic equity were never abstract concerns for me. Fuqua gave me the language and tools to do something with them.
Reframing the Standard
Even so, imposter syndrome has a long memory. The gap between my background and that of many classmates surfaced often. The shift came during a session with Maria Kim of the Redefine Alliance, who pointed out that the room was not built with people like me in mind. Measuring yourself against a standard designed for someone else is beside the point and has no bearing on your belonging or contribution. That perspective didn’t eliminate the doubt, but it redirected my energy toward what I was actually here to do.
As I celebrate graduation, I am proud. Proud of the community I found, the perspective I contributed, and the person I became here. To anyone wondering whether a place like Fuqua could be for them: it can. I hope my being here makes that a little easier to believe.
The post How I Embraced My Identity as a Fuqua First appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog.
More...
How does this impact your International MBA decision?
I'd be glad to learn your thoughts on this story : How I Embraced My Identity as a Fuqua First