Sophia Kiang
Who is Sophia Kiang, you might ask? If you were ever so lucky as to encounter the stunning ballerina on the quad, you would not know what to say first about her. Sophia is the kind of girl that makes you feel like you're not at nerd camp but rather hanging with the hottest girl in school. Although Sophia is a sight for sore eyes, she has an equally wonderful personality that makes you doubt that there is such a person. Sophia is witty and a very talented photographer and dancer. She'll also make you laugh super hard every day. Sophia always dresses to impress and never failed to accessorize with a large Canon Rebel camera that captured many moments at tip. She is the kind of girl that you wanted to be best friends with. If you every stalk her profile pictures on Facebook, you will spend time trying to find some deeper life meaning. Sophia is an artist in every form of her life. Her life is a canvas that is constantly being painted by her countless talents and goodness towards everyone she meets. She's not afraid to be open and that is one thing that makes people so attracted to her. She is very sympathetic and isn't afraid to share her thoughts, feelings, or opinions, and people respect and admire her confidence to share them. Every year, each and every Tipster brings different elements to TIP and those elements (whether they know it or not) influence the TIP atmosphere. As TIP is a place where people come to find themselves and let their guard down, Sophia is the person who brings the elements of freedom and safety as she allows other people to confide in her and be themselves.
During her 1st year at Duke TIP, Sophia attended Davidson Campus for Term 2 and took a creative writing class. Her closest friends were Emma Gobillot, Aislinn Tirney, John-Francis Villines (who was an East Term 1 kid for his 2nd/3rd/4th years), Alicia Brown, Ehi and Jackson Schapp. Lindsay Van Beck and Sophia became very good friends. Fun fact: Jonathon Mckenney’s class picture was put in Sophia's termbook instead of her own that year! They missed meeting each other by a week or two (Jon was Term 1 and Sophia was Term 2)
At her 2nd year, Sophia was a busy bee at Duke East Campus Term 2 where she took International Relations with Hannah Moran, Odemi Pessu (who is one of her closest friends today), Hunter Quintal, Nate McPherson-Vitkus, Bridget Colliton, and Sanjay Banda (who had a thing for Soph post-tip). Her rag was very tight knit and she spent a lot of time with Courtney Moberley and Ashwini Krishnamurthy. Sophia was especially close with Sarah Welsh, another 2nd year, with whom she talked to about everything in her life. She also became friends with Emma Gobillot, Logan Laird, and Aidan Kahl. Sophia got to know James Hunter Archer (who had the gentleman's hat as a 4th year) and later, went to Prom with him the following school year. Sophia and James stayed close friends and went to multiple dances, Tipsgiving, Rocky Horror (apparently an Atlanta tipster tradition) together, and also attended the same school. James now attends Brown University, but the two have a lasting TIP bond. Sophia found herself in trouble with her RC because she would often show up late to Rag meetings with Jon and Isaac (another tall 2nd year boy).
During her 3rd year at Duke East Term II, Sophia lived in Bassett in Erin's rag (the only 3rd year rag in the 4th year dorm) and took Celluloid Visions, a class with her favorite people ever. Those favorite people consisted of a miss Gabriella Burns and Lindsay Van Beck. She got to know some guys her class like Evan Palmer and Bryce Halloran, both 4th years. Right before the Time Warp, Bryce and Sophia were able to express their feelings for each other. A boy named Aidan soon changed the dynamics and caused drama as he wasn't always straight with Sophia. Sophia stuck with Bryce and had a thing with him for the rest of term. Although boys were constantly competing for her attention, Sophia spent a lot of time with the girls in her rag. She was very close with Hailey Wozniak, Gabriella Burns, Ashwini Krishnamurthy, and Maddie Pollack. Outside of her rag, she continued her super close friendships with Sarah Welsh and Courtney Moberley. Sophia was highly considered for many traditions by the fourth years including Llama Mama, Sexy Mama, and she was invited to become an SFW on the last night.
Finally, during her 4th year at Duke East, Sophia lived in a separate dorm pursuing her inner swan lake as an ADFer. She was able to spend time with Mia (Llama Mama 2014), Sarah Welsh (who broke many TIP rules to visit her frequently), Hailey Wozniak, Courtney Moberley (SFW) , Jon Mckenney, and others. Although Sophia was at Duke as an ADFer, she was recognized as a tipster and her presence was felt throughout campus.
Sophia Kiang certainly left a legacy at TIP for being a fun-loving, beautiful, smart, artistic girl who was loved by everyone. She was and will always be the talk of the town, the chatter of the crowd, and the girl next door that you can't help but adore <3