Musings on Blue Devil Weekend (3/26/2010)

You know Fuqua has something special afoot when the BMO moves the black benches out of the Fox Center and into the mallway. Perhaps it’s the fresh alignment, the extra places to crash and chat, or simply a gerrymandered absence of blank space that brings the school a fresh, inviting look. Hi, nice to see you. Welcome home. For the first time, the honored guest, the debutante, is you.

Growing up, my father always used to tell us the Riddle of the Sphinx, the winged gatekeeper that guarded ancient Thebes: “What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night?” Why, that, Oedipus solved, is the man! He crawls when he is a baby, walks upright in his prime, and uses a cane in his old age. For his wisdom, the Thebans named him king.

While we’ll save Oedipus’ other deeds for Behavioral Econ, I’m thinking he was onto something. BDW tells you the same riddle, only you don’t realize it until the third go-around, when you effectively are the answer. You drive or fly down to Durham, walk into Fuqua on the proverbial four legs, green and awestruck – ohmigahd this is really happening; wait, the lights went down and they’re cheering for me; they want me, they really want me!; this is my school now, I don’t have to kiss ass anymore... A year later, it’s your show – time to groom the new class, read them, mold them, pep-talk them, guide them. Nice to meet you, see you soon. Let’s have fun next year... Then, suddenly, blink!, you’re the old man, preparing for your pasture. It’s BDW again, and you’re not the debutante, not the guest of honor; there’s little left but to watch and smile with the grace of an elder statesman.

For me, BDW personified the most seismic shakeup in life since I studied abroad at 16, bigger even than college, first job, or trip to New Zealand. In the months prior, the MBA had been a distant mirage – yeah, Duke, that’s happening at some point, but let's hit Mackey's for happy hour – and suddenly, poof!, Duke shoved itself, regally, to the front of the line. I wouldn’t be living in Washington much longer; Afghanistan would have to stand or fall without me. Goodbye, Nationals; hello, Bulls (an upgrade, in case you’re wondering). Now, BDW portends another bittersweet change, a move out of Durham, back to world that sent me. I hope I've fared well.

My friend Stacey, Duke ’07, had raved about BDW since before I had even applied. We caught up when I was on the way home.

“So,” she asked. “Did you meet a lot of great people?”
“Yes.”
“Are they the people you want to spend the next two years of your life with?”

At the time, it felt like “are you going to marry this girl?” after a first date. Now, I’m looking back wondering why I had even thought of going out with anyone else.

And so, Class of ’12, here’s your MBA: Synergies good. Labor unions bad. Don’t T-Rex.

But Duke is so much more, and for now, BDW is your movie trailer, a harbinger of two years of emotions on speed – of deep despair and soaring exhilaration, of paradise lost and regained, of friendship born and emboldened, of slings, arrows, and outrageous fortune.

Welcome home, 2012.

You have no idea.