Finesse

During second term of Duke TIP 2017 at Duke West, Sterling Hollond, Alfonso Garcia, and Eric Zhang made up the group known as the FinesseBoys. During the second dance (7/21), they climbed out of Eric's window and first got on the roof, kick starting the finessing to come for the rest of the term. Then, on Sunday (7/23), they snuck out to the gardens and the Bryan center during the morning free time, and the first major exploration that was done. Not long after that, on the same day, they snuck out to go to the Panda Express at the Bryan Center because it closed at 4 o'clock, and they were craving some Panda. The trip involved a daring exit and an improvised reroute on the return. After that, they went out onto the roof a few more times. On tuesday, Sterling bought a $4 rope from a store, and later that night, rappelled out of his window three stories up, one of the sketchiest things ever done. Later on in the week, they snuck into the FF section of the dorms a few times to explore and got all the way to the top floor, where they hung out in the rooms for a bit before returning. Around this time, they also went to the 6th floor common room, but there's not much to do there. Next, they made a habit of exploring the West Union dining hall, entering and occasionally dining in the conference rooms. Also in the West Union, they went out onto the bridge that separates the quads to the Union and Bryan Center, and into the Bolton Family Tower Room. They also went on the bottom floor to the area outside ABP, and looked for the tunnels there. The FinesseBoys then arrived upon the last night, the magnum opus of their craft. They started out by trying to get to the top of the building across the walkway with the swinging benches, but the door was locked (a Duke rarity), and they continued on to search for the tunnels. Sterling recieved an anonymous tip that the tunnels were located around the BioTech building. After taking a detour around the dorms and doing a good deal of sightseeing of the campus, they arrived at the building and searched tirelessly for the entrance to the tunnels. Finally, the group spotted a barred off hole. After descending into the tunnels via a sketchy ladder, and walking around, Eric burned his hand on a hot water pipe and they were forced to turn around. However, the night was still young, and Sterling climbed the part of the chapel with the walkway underneath and the smaller arches to walk through. They then continued with some light rappelling, and the plan was to sleep in FF, but they fell asleep in their dorms beforehand. If you thought that the last night was the end of the finesssing, you stand corrected, because the next morning (albeit without Eric) they went to East, 9th St., and the graffiti bridge. After hanging out with East kids for a bit and getting lunch, they decided to pull the greatest finesse of all time, and in one term, finesse both Duke campuses, which was done by climbing on the roofs of East, cementing their legacy as the greatest finessers of all time. However, the most impressive part? Not once were they caught by a blue lanyard, nor questioned by anyone, and were in such good standings with the staff that RC David once remarked (after confiscating some kid's scooter), "Why can't these kids just be good like Sterling, he's just taking a shower." It didn't matter that the reason he was taking a shower was that he was sweaty from the tunnels and from running back, just that he was showering. #FinesseBoysForever