If you live in Randolph dorm, you are familiar with the scent of freshly baked oatmeal cake filling the common room. Periodically throughout the year, there are notices about trips to the Lemur Center, Farmers’ Market, and Joe Van Gogh coffee. If you’re lucky, you may spot an adorable, rambunctious little dog bounding through the backyard on East Campus. Professor Helen Gordon, the resident faculty member of Randolph dorm, and her wirefox terrier, Cody, enrich the daily lives of freshmen that they have connected with in the past few years.
Helen is the first resident faculty member on East Campus to come from the School of Nursing. Originally from Rogers, Arkansas, home of the first Walmart, Helen attended the University of Arkansas for her undergraduate degree, attained her masters at the University of Utah, and a doctorate at Case Western. Her clinical expertise is in midwifery, so it was natural for her to teach maternity and women’s health when she came to Duke. “Most people don’t know very much about the nursing school,” Helen said, “but it’s a huge program, almost 900 students, that attracts a fair number of Duke graduates.”
Helen is able to provide a unique perspective on the lives of freshmen at Duke, since she occupies an apartment in Randolph. “I’ve seen some crazy things,” Helen chuckles, but stresses the amazing work ethic of the students at Duke. “You can pass by the common rooms at noon on a Saturday and you’ll see clusters of students hunched over their work…” She laments on how great it has been to be around the freshmen on campus. “It’s wonderful interacting with students who don’t know much about medicine or nursing, also, I loved college, so it’s great to be here again.” Helen usually organizes events by herself, such as trips to the Nasher, pizza parties, and sundae parties. “I’m having so much fun! I always get really excited when everyone comes back to school.”
She has helpful advice for Duke students on bettering their academic and cultural education. “Go to the office hours of your professor; they are here to help you, we are here to teach.” Helen is planning on starting a Mindful Meditation class next year; she is extremely interested in the effects that being mindful can have on busy, stressed students. “Be mindful about your experience here; pay attention to your schoolwork and grades,” she says, “but do not forget that there is something going on at all times, Baldwin, the Nasher, and Durham are all worthy of exploring. Going to Duke is not just academics; it is learning about the culture here and the Durham culture.”
Perhaps the cutest resident of East Campus, Cody is a six-year old wirefox terrier that Helen adopted three years ago. “He was returned to the breeder for being ‘vicious’ but I knew he wasn’t vicious.” Indeed, when I visited the apartment, Cody playfully attacked his reindeer toy, and bounded around the room in glee. “He is so friendly. He loves the common rooms and the students,” she says, “when the students when home for winter break, he was visibly depressed,” she laughs. “He’s always looking for someone to play with.”