Samia Batchelor

Class of 2024
Major in Public Policy Studies; Minors in Education and Spanish

I am a senior at I am a senior who loves working at the intersection of education, law, and policy. I am currently completing the teacher licensure program here at Duke, and I plan to teach immediately after graduating before attending law school to pursue a career in education law. In the Spring of 2023, I participated in the Duke in DC program, where I had a wonderful experience living near Capitol Hill with other Public Policy students and interning in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs. I am involved in several organizations here on campus, including the POLIS Student Committee, Students of the Caribbean Association (SOCA), Inside Education, intramural flag football, and Duke University Marching Band. Off-campus, I spend my time providing private and community tutoring services for middle and high school math students.

Favorite Class: I loved Legal Issues in Education with Dean Sue. She is such an engaging and knowledgeable professor, and her class made me certain I should pursue a legal career. I learned so much during that course, and I loved the assignments because every topic seemed so relatable to us college students. I was well-prepared to directly apply the skills I gained from this course during my internship at the Department of Education when I was instructed to provide my office with detailed coverage of Supreme Court Cases like the pair on student loan forgiveness and more. I would recommend for anyone remotely interested in education law to take this class.