Duke TIP Summer Program vs. Public School

By: Emily Soroka, M&M TIPster

Public school and the Duke TIP summer program are alike and different in many ways. Most would prefer camp over school, but some might not. These are both places for people to come together and build a future together.

“TIP is the greatest thing you will have a chance to experience,” the Duke TIP website states. Duke TIP camp is a place to learn and bond with the people around you. School is a time of learning and bonding too, but you are always stuck with those same people throughout different grade levels.

When you’re at camp you meet many new people from across the country. Sometimes you'll meet your best friend at camp, or maybe develop a “relationTIP.” At camp you get to pick what class you take and they are always interesting classes, not something like English or history. You stay in a college dorm with a roommate, unlike public school, where you don’t live at your school.
Some people would say school is more boring than camp, but this may be because you don’t have fun evening activities every night when you get home, or because your friends aren’t right down the hall from you. At school, you are required to take core academic classes, and we also spend 10 months at school learning, while we are only at camp for three weeks.

At both camp and school we are surrounded by our friends, supportive teachers and class lessons. Camp and school both provide great learning environments. We learn morals and make memories at both camp and school.

Emily Soroka, 14, is a Freshman at West Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia