Episode 19: Reimagining Possibilities through Representation

Imagine A World

The latest episode of Imagine a World features a familiar face… frequent co-host Sydney Hunt from the 2023 cohort joins the podcast, this time as the guest! Sydney, a first-year PhD student in electrical engineering, imagines a world where people see someone that looks like them doing what they would love to do. She shares her experience growing up in upstate New York, building environments that allow historically underrepresented groups to reimagine life’s possibilities, dad jokes, and more.

Highlights from the episode:

• (5:59) Growing up in Cornwall, New York in a close-knit group of family friends
• (12:59) Transitioning to undergraduate life at Duke University academically, athletically, and socially
• (21:44) How Sydney ended up majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies, and how she combines her humanities and STEM background through advocacy for diversity in STEM
• (33:58) How the Knight-Hennessy community has helped Sydney pursue her Imagine a World statement
• (39:47) Sydney’s experiences serving on the board of trustees at Duke, as a way of giving back in gratitude for the full scholarship that allowed her to study there
• (43:25) Sydney’s PhD research on brain-computer interfaces that can restore function for paralyzed people
• (50:49) Sydney’s improbable facts about room-temperature water and meal points, and her advice to applicants
• (56:09) Bonus dad joke