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On Friday night, a group of us went to ComedyWorx for the late night improv show. It was soo much fun and a great way to get out without doing the typical bar hopping night. We grabbed a super healthy dinner of fries and burgers at Mo Joes and then headed to the show and grabbed a few beers at the bar there. It was a super fun audience- when they asked for adjectives we heard “juicy,” “raunchy,” and “silly,” along with several less blog appropriate ones icon smile a day for my taste buds Definitely our type of crowd haha.

Yesterday I went over to Durham to chat with the Compass Fellows mentors at Duke. It is a fun, inspiring group of five upperclassmen who will guide fifteen incoming freshmen in a social entrepreneurship fellowship over the next year.

It was awesome to be able to share what I learned as a founding mentor at GWU; I had a lot to share, both from my successes and my mistakes. I hope that hearing from me was beneficial for them! I also extended an invite to The Raleigh Forum to them and their fellows. I thought it would be useful to chat with me and my sister, since we just went through the entire process of starting a business- from generating an idea to forming an LLC to finding an accountant to opening the business (well, almost- September 1!)/

 a day for my taste budsBut one of the coolest parts of the day was our “taste tripping” party. Trust me, it sounds much more illicit than it is icon smile a day for my taste buds You pop an mberry pill into your mouth, let it dissolve, and then sample an array of bitter and sour foods. It “magically” transforms the flavors to sweet and sugary! A lemon suddenly tastes like lemonade and you can bite into one without cringing. Gotta say though, radishes tasted like radishes and balsamic vinegar tasted like balsamic vinegar. But interestingly enough, a lemon dipped into soy sauce tastes oddly good.

But, as one blogger eloquently said, “Honestly, if Tabasco tastes like hot donut glaze, I think you may be tripping on something else.” Haha! Though we all (jokingly? not jokingly?) said we felt especially spacey afterwards! The blogger also said the following, which I agree with: “After much discussion, we seemed to agree that despite a few extreme flavor shifts, the Miracle Fruit tablets mainly took the bite/edge/stinkiness (all words used) out of most things, allowing you to taste more complexity in the flavors, or in some cases, just a slightly different flavor.”

So what did I do post-tripping? I went to Harris Teeter and picked up weird ingredients, duh! I grabbed Thai eggplants (very mini!), bitter melon, and sunflower chokes. Stay tuned for recipes!

PSA to individuals in the Triangle who are committed to the field of social entrepreneurship: Compass Fellows is coming to Duke! Help spread the word.

The Compass Fellowship, now in its second year of growth and supported by The Kenneth Cole Foundation, is seeking the most ambitious, passionate freshmen students in 12 campuses worldwide to learn how to be effective social entrepreneurs.

It’s an exciting process: almost 2,000 will apply, but, given 15 fellowship openings per campus, only the best 180 will be selected. Think of it as Survivor or Dancing With the Stars meets social entrepreneurship. It will be epic.

Once selected, Compass Fellows will join the incredible Compass Community, a growing global network of young, passionate, fun-loving, and like-minded social innovators. They will work alongside unreasonably committed peer Mentors on their campus and be granted numerous opportunities to interact with business leaders locally and nationally. Together, Compass Fellows and Mentors will form a tight-knit community of student leaders on their campus, actively seeking to change the world together.

The strength of the program really is this Compass Community, which will:

  • Connect Fellows with peer Mentors who will inspire them to think adventurously
  • Provide Fellows with resources to empower them live and work consciously
  • Demand that Fellows participate proactively, pushing them to start a social venture and learn by doing.

Through our peer-driven curriculum based on personal development and the philosophy that talented people learn best by doing, Fellows are inspired, pushed, and empowered to start their very own social venture during their freshmen year of college. Through our community, these freshmen will have access to countless resources and a tremendous network of social entrepreneurs and business leaders. They will develop friendships hands-on experience and  that will alter how they see and work in the world forever after.

To learn more about the Compass Fellowship and why we love what we do and you should, too, please visit: www.CompassFellows.org.

To apply visit: www.CompassFellows.org/apply


I was a Compass Mentor at George Washington University, and I saw firsthand how empowered and proactive the Fellows become. It’s an incredible fellowship that fosters social innovation, entrepreneurship, and empowered young students.

pixel Compass Fellowship Comes to Duke
+Cristina Roman