Name: Larissa Cox
Major: Computer Science
Year: 2018
Hometown: Grand Junction, Colorado
1. What makes you feel at home when you’re at Duke?
I play a lot of music at Duke, and it provides a great release from the stress of school. I’ve played music since middle school, and it helps me relax and ignore the stress of Duke. I play the saxophone, and I’m in the Duke Wind Symphony and a saxophone quartet, and I played my first solo recital last semester, which was exciting.
2. Do you ever wish you lived closer to your family?
Definitely! My mom and I became really close my senior year of high school, and it’s hard to never get to see her or my sister, especially since I rarely go home for Thanksgiving or spring break. But I think in the end, it’s been good for me to get away from home and try something new, and I don’t think I would have grown as much in school if I had been able to rely on friends and family back home.
3. What’s your favorite fall tradition?
I love fall food. Halloween candy, hot chocolate, and pumpkin spice everything are some of my favorites.
4. What has been your best Halloween costume to date?
One year in high school, I was a scary doll for a haunted house on Halloween, and I’m pretty sure I was terrifying.
5. What are your thoughts on Greek life?
I really enjoy being a part of my sorority, Gamma Phi Beta. All the girls are passionate, engaging, and fun. It’s given me a group of friends who have diverse interests and let me meet a lot of people I wouldn’t have otherwise. At the same time, I know there are issues with the exclusivity and drinking and sexual cultures created by Greek life on many college campuses. I think that Greek life can really enrich the experiences of people who join, but that campuses should be careful about the power that they give to Greek life over their social scene.
6. Any recommendations you have for freshmen thinking about rush/recruitment?
I think that it’s important to go into rush, whether it’s for sororities, fraternities, SLGs, or any other group on campus, with an open mind and a lot of self-confidence. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to be in any particular group to have a good time on campus, and that not getting into the groups you really wanted to join doesn’t make you any less interesting and worthwhile.
7. What’s been the greatest class/professor you’ve had at Duke?
I loved Computer Science 101 because it’s when I found what I really wanted to do. I love programming, and I always found doing assignments and APTs to be a ton of fun.
8. What’s something that is meaningful to you?
I have a big bulletin board in my room of all the nice notes and cards people have given me, which is really important to me because it reminds me of all the awesome people I know and love.
9. What’s your favorite thing to do during a study break?
Shamelessly singing and dancing to my favorite songs and getting coffee with friends.
10. Why did you decide to minor in women’s studies (now Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies)?
I think the issue of the gender gap in tech is really important, and I wanted to learn more about how to solve the issues of gender inequality that we still see in the U.S.