Witch Trials x Cloe

Location: Cloe’s Apartment, the Heights at Lasalle, sitting at her kitchen table with her foster-puppy, Bean

The Interviewer: Cameron Forbes, Coven Influencer & personal friend

 

CLOE

“Growing up in New York, you’re exposed to a lot of things at a very young age, and one of those things for me was watching the news. And when Sandy Hook happened and I was watching the news, even though I was maybe only fifteen at the time, it struck me being a kid in high school and having the possibility of that happening. And that’s kinda when I started to get more emotionally involved and interested in gun rights. And then I saw that mass shootings continued to happen, and people continued to have strong reactions to them, but nothing changed, and that’s what drives me. The emotion behind it.

GUN CONTROL

I started the group Bite the Bull(et) at Duke just about a month and a half ago. I think it’s hard to get something started at Duke when you’re a freshman or a sophomore —you don’t really know your way around the campus and you’re trying to get situated with everything else: friends and classes and majors and minors and whatnot, so I think why I started it now is just that I felt that I was at a point in my academic career where I had the capability and the knowledge to do something like this — and with the help of other people who are interested in this also.

So far, we organized the student walkout. We didn’t officially have our name on it just because our SOFC funding hasn’t been approved yet, but that group of people organized the walkout last Tuesday. It was amazing. And going forward, we’re going to try to bring speakers to Duke, just to have a conversation. It’s always going to be a safe space to discuss these types of tragedies when they happen, or any gun related incident. Hopefully, we can get Duke to implement some kind of protocol if anything like this were to happen on campus.

 

SOCIAL ISSUES

When I was nine years old, my parents divorced and my mom came out to us, so gay rights are super important to me. Mental health, suicide prevention, animal rights — like my little Bean, my foster puppy —are all of the social issues that are also really important to me.

DUKE

So far, my Duke experience has been good. I went from being homeschooled my last two years of high school, which was then really hard to transition to being at a university. I think my freshman year was the hardest in terms of academics just because I had to get my bearings in an academic setting like this, get back in a classroom, and go from online classes to classrooms and written exams. But I think my experience has taught me a lot and really prepared me for what I want to do next.

MOLDS

I don’t drink alcohol. I, undoubtedly, feel pressure to fit a mold at Duke — I’m twenty-one, but it’s not something I partake in as a personal choice. There definitely are pressures to drink, but I think one thing that has surprised me about Duke is that all my friends and the people I’ve met have never judged me for that, or made me feel like that is something I need to do. Even though there is a social stigma around it, I don’t feel like that has been an issue.

Other social pressures I feel I think are just like going out constantly. But, I think after my freshman and sophomore year, now being a junior, I have figured out how to mentally allow myself to not do things and not socialize and be okay with that, and to not feel that fear of missing out or that fear of not being a part of something. Those are the main social pressures: drinking, going out, socializing.

I have a long term relationship that is also long distance. I still make an effort to hang out, but there definitely are pressures. There’s always gonna be pressures wherever you are in any social setting, but I think what is great about Duke is that the actual personal relationships you form with people are so genuine. I’ve gotten to let people know me on a much more deep basis than simply a social setting — just going out — which has allowed me to combat the social stigma with strong, actual friendships that don’t involve judgement.

LIVING

It’s a balance. And I think it’s a challenge. I think what’s really hard is that freshman year you don’t necessarily know a lot of people. I was really lucky to have a sister here who helped me figure out where I fit in, and she kinda gave me a template, almost, because we are super similar. That showed me what I would be interested in. I knew we would be interested in the same groups, sororities, and friends. Having that was an advantage that obviously not everyone has. I think the way I’ve navigated college is, honestly, talking to people outside of my sorority, intimate friend group, and even Duke to find my own ground. 

 

FEMALE ADVANCEMENT

Obviously, Duke is so great for forming relationships and networking. There are a lot of interesting people here, who do a lot of different things and have a lot of different interests. I think I might be only one of two girls even in my pledge class that is a Visual Media Studies major. In terms of that, I’ve really leaned on older girls and the people around me who had taken classes to show me what I was interested in. I relied on my older sister obviously, and all of her friends who were able to help me figure out how to live life at Duke. Even how to order food here, and where to go, and where buildings are, and things like bookbagging that I had no idea how to do.

 

ON THE HORIZON

Hopefully in the next month I’ll get a job [laughs]. And, if I get one, I’ll be very happy. So, that’s what I’m looking forward to in the next month: hopefully getting a job, finishing my junior year, and entering my senior year. I’m really excited. I love Duke, obviously, but I’m really excited to enter the real world and use the skills that I’ve learned here to make change in the media. In terms of long-term goals, Adam Silver, I’m coming for your job. I’d love to be the commissioner of the NBA. I want to do something with sports, media, and maybe be some type of sports commentator or broadcaster.

Gun control is something that I will always be super passionate and driven about. And I think what I would like to do, ideally, is combine the things I’m interested in, like sports, and media, with this activist role. Because, I think, long term, I want to have a family and support them. I want a stable job where I can provide for my family and I want to make sure they’re safe. I want to incorporate those people into my activism: get my family involved in gun control, get athletes involved, get other media profiles. I think my activism and future job could go hand in hand.

COLD BREW FOR COVEN

I love advice. Advice is the best thing, honestly. My advice: be yourself, which is so cheesy. Personally, I initially felt that at Duke, I had to overcompensate for the fact that I didn’t want to drink or go out every night, or that I didn’t want to take a math class that everyone said I absolutely had to take. Stay true to you, even if people comment on it. People would say to me that Visual Media Studies is an easy major, but maybe it’s easy for you and maybe it’s challenging for other people. Be true to who you are, stick with your girlfriends, make long-lasting relationships with different people, have deep conversations, and get involved. I waited too long to get involved at Duke.