Face Value: Jack Chance

Jack Chance

Traffic controller and member of the parking detail sometimes referred to as the "Quad Squad," which polices parking in front of the Chapel; amateur artist and animal lover

Describe yourself in three words:
Motivated, optimistic, enthusiastic

Describe Duke in three words:
Builder of goodwill

Why Duke?
I was in between jobs, and I was just fortunate to get a job with Duke Security. I was with them for about a year. And then one day my supervisor told me he got a call from Parking and Transportation Services. They told him they were looking for someone who was "firm." And I was the first person he thought of. When they brought me in for the interview they said, "How are you firm?" I said, "Well, I get nicer and louder."

Who is your favorite person?
My mom. She's been a nurse her whole life. She spent her whole life raising us, and now it's time we take care of her.

What do you value?
I value learning. I read constantly--books, newspapers. Look in my car. You'll see stacks of newspapers. Every week I have to go to the recycling center.

In his words:

I was having a rough month. Things were getting stressful at work. I finally had a weekend to myself, and I said, "I gotta go. I need to get away." I didn't know where, just away. So I took a bus to the airport and paid $400 for a roundtrip ticket to Florida. I went all the way down to Florida. I drank, I bet it was, a tractor-trailer full of coffee. And I got down there, and I just walked around. You know, they say walking is one of the best medicines. It helps you think. Einstein did a lot of walking. And it's like he said, "You can't solve a problem on the level it was created. You have to change your way of thinking." So I walked and walked, and, at the end of the day, I took a cab back to the airport and came all the way back to Durham. It cost me $400, and I would never take it back. Because I learned no matter how far you run, your problems are going to go with you. And you just have to think them through.