Education Comes to Life

Follow Duke women's basketball on Twitter. Click here for more information and to sign up head to Twitter.com. All Blue Devil fans can also become a fan of Duke Women's Basketball on Facebook. Click here to join the Official Duke Women's Basketball Page. If you are not signed up on Facebook, just head to http://www.facebook.com and then click here to join the "Official Duke Women's Basketball Page."

By Steve Barnes, GoDuke The Magazine

Helping others is always a good thing. Sometimes it even pays extra dividends.

Back in the spring, Joy Cheek and the rest of her Duke women's basketball teammates were trying to move past a disappointing early exit in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Cheek, a public policy major, was filling out the reams of necessary paperwork for a summer internship she needed to fulfill graduation requirements before her senior year on campus.

"I'm really interested in education policy, so I was focusing on that around the Washington D.C. area," said Cheek, who lived in suburban Hyattsville until her family moved to Charlotte while she was in elementary school. "I applied to the National Education Administration, the D.C. Public School System and several others."

In her spare time, Cheek put into practice what she was learning in the classroom by her membership in The Girls Club, a Duke service organization that pairs female students with middle school girls in Durham. They meet on Thursdays after school at the Emily Krzyzewski Center near the Duke campus.

"I like to help the younger girls stay on the right track," said Cheek. "We help them with self-esteem, body image issues, boys....you know, girl stuff. We are mentors and role models for them, and we show them that they can be successful."

During her application process, Cheek received an email from The Girls Club director that went out to all the members announcing a summer opportunity to work in the Vice President's office helping out with economic policy. That's the Vice President of the United States.

It wasn't quite education policy, but who would turn down the chance to work in the brand new administration during the worst economic crisis in generations? Cheek decided to go for it.

Three essays, three letters of recommendation, a resume and an application later, she found herself on the phone with an administration staff member discussing the position. Mid-May, she received another call informing her she was one of 14 college students who would be spending Memorial Day through mid-August working for Vice President Joe Biden.

"All the internships I applied for would have worked out okay, but this one was at the top of my list," said Cheek. "I was really excited when they called and told me."

Her grandmother lived nearby, on the Maryland side of the city, so living arrangements were simple. A daily ride on the Metro took her to her desk in the Eisenhower Office Building right next door to the White House.

"It was a little overwhelming at first, but everyone was so nice to us that it felt comfortable quickly," said Cheek. "Vice President Biden welcomed us as a group and talked to us one-on-one soon after we started working. He told me he always seemed to have Duke people around him when he was a Senator, so I should do fine."

One of Cheek's daily duties for the Vice President was to scan the national newspapers to gauge public opinion about the economic stimulus plan President Obama had announced earlier in the spring.

"I wrote summaries of the articles from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Bloomberg News Service and compiled a daily briefing book for the VP," said Cheek. "His daily schedule was packed, so he read them between appointments so he would know what the public reaction was. It was fascinating to see how policy that was shaped and implemented right where I was affected the stock market, foreign relations and domestic reaction. It was what I learned at Duke coming to life."

She also had some time to keep track of what was going on in education.

"Jill Biden (the VP's wife) taught at a community college in Delaware and was really up on what was happening," said Cheek. "Her office was near where we worked and she let me come down every once in awhile and I did some little things for her just to keep my hand in it."

One of Cheek's other main responsibilities was to make and maintain the daily schedule for Jared Bernstein, Biden's chief economist.
"He was always addressing various groups about the stimulus plan and other economic issues, so I stayed busy most of the time," said Cheek. "I learned a lot about a lot of different things while I was there."

The Big Meeting came at a function that some find mundane if not entirely skippable - the company picnic. President Obama was standing nearby and one of the staffers urged Cheek to go up and introduce herself, so she did.

"He was very charismatic and down-to-earth," said Cheek. "It took me a little bit to get over the fact that I was talking to the President of the United States, but we had a good conversation. He told me he beat (UConn star) Maya Moore at P-I-G when the team visited. I saw him a couple of other times while I was there and he was always nice to me."

Cheek found time to workout and play pickup basketball on a regular basis, although not against the President. Her goals are high but achievable entering her senior season.

"I just want to be more consistent in everything this season," said Cheek, who should become the newest member of the 1,000-point club before her Blue Devil career ends. "Coach P (Joanne McCallie) says it's more about who finishes than who starts and I want to be out on the floor for the big moments - beginning, middle or at the end."

Cheek would like to play professionally, in the WNBA, overseas or both after her Duke days end. Ultimately, she sees herself as a superintendent of a school district or some other role in helping youngsters succeed.

"I believe very strongly that there should be no 'good schools' and 'bad schools.' Every kid should have a shot at a great education. One of the things I learned this summer was that the people in the Obama-Biden administration are there to truly serve the public and make things better. I'm planning on that staying with me."

Players Mentioned

Joy Cheek

Duke information