Duke - Zach Weisberg https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/author/zach-weisberg en How to turn a Duke English degree into a surfing career https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/how-turn-duke-english-degree-surfing-career <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>At Duke University, surfing is not a career. Period.</p> <p>Nor should it be. On the surface, it makes no sense. Blame geography. Durham overflows with charm, intelligence, and ambition, but shrivels raisin-dry when it comes to opportunities associated with riding open-ocean swells. If I wanted to ascend the ranks at Goldman Sachs, steer the ship at Apple, or direct policy in the White House, Duke offers a time-tested launchpad. If I hoped to make a meaningful contribution to the eccentric tapestry of surf culture, I’d be best served combing the California coast.</p> <p>About halfway through my undergraduate journey, though, I discovered that building a life and livelihood that revolves around the ocean was a distinct, magnetizing possibility. Traditional? Linear? Safe? On all accounts, no. Achievable? Very.</p> <p>I grew up surfing in the Outer Banks each summer, where I was fortunate enough to toss pizzas and wash dishes by day and obsessively hunt for surf every moment off the clock. I vigilantly monitored the mercurial confluence of swell, wind direction, and tide required to produce ideal conditions. Those summers also served as an intoxicating counterpoint to the athletic endeavors that secured me a spot at Duke: wrestling.</p> <p>Wrestling is the opposite of surfing. It’s an ascetic lifestyle where I learned the value of discipline, hard work, and sacrifice. In reductive terms, I’d starve myself and wake up at dawn to fight people for most of the year. If I eliminated the satisfaction derived from succeeding (read: winning), it was mostly insufferable. That voluntary misery came to a screeching halt in the summer. During the year’s hottest months, I was surfing.</p> <p>When compared with the oppressive demands of wrestling, surfing truly represented freedom. I realized surfing might also afford a career path when my D.U.D.E. degree (Duke University Department of English...they even make T-shirts!) fit my unpaid summer internship at <em>Surfer</em> magazine like a glove. Before I drove across America, my boss joked that as long as I was cool washing&nbsp;his car a couple times a month, we wouldn’t have issues. I never had to wash his car. But I did write twenty pieces for the website and got a byline in “The Bible of the Sport” that summer. When he offered me fifty dollars for each piece I wrote, I was shocked. I felt like I just tricked the world. It’s possible to get paid to write about surfing. I entered the “Magazine Journalism” class with a puffy chest my senior year. After all, I had a byline in <em>Surfer</em> magazine.</p> <p>My peers had returned from internships at <em>The Economist</em>, <em>The New Republic</em>, and <em>The Atlantic</em>. They seemed none too impressed. Maybe they didn’t hear me right. I said, “<em>Surfer</em> magazine.”</p> <p>After that summer, I had no question as to what I wanted to do. I only needed to decide if I had the audacity to do it. My decision felt binary: follow a path to join the ranks of a tribe cast largely as derelicts and misfits, or do what Dukies do and ace that LSAT.</p> <p>LSAT just wasn’t in the cards. After graduating, I zipped back to California to accept a position as the online editor at <em>Surfer</em>. After three years internally championing the impending virtual revolution with no success, I left to start my own digital media outlet, <em>The Inertia</em>, and I haven’t looked back. Last September marked its tenth anniversary; <em>Surfer</em> didn’t survive the digital revolution.</p> <p>I often struggle with how trite and self-indulgent surfing is (at its worst) when compared with the world-changing opportunities available to me at an institution like Duke. Consequently, I attempt to infuse everything we do with a greater sense of purpose. We approach the natural world with curiosity, optimism, and respect. I take great pride in finding opportunities to elevate the stature of surfers and outdoor enthusiasts wherever possible. The Spicoli stereotype of the surfer in <em>Fast Times at Ridgemont High</em> is a fallacy. Ask William Finnegan, who won a Pulitzer for writing about his relationship with the ocean. Famous bodysurfer Barack Obama loved his book <em>Barbarian Days</em>.</p> <p>I was mistaken. Our paths aren’t binary. Few things are.</p> <p>I did pick up this quote from Thoreau, a fellow admirer of the natural world, in an English class at Duke, and it has always guided me, in a sense, toward freedom. “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”</p> <p>I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished at <em>The Inertia</em> in the past decade, but I know better than to take any of it for granted or resist innovation. We’re a long ways from our potential.</p> <p>The ocean has been an excellent teacher, indiscriminately doling out its lessons. Like most surfers, I just try to observe and appreciate the conditions for what they are, make the best decisions I can, and enjoy each moment of the ride while it lasts.</p> <p><em>Weisberg ’07 is founder and publisher of </em>The Inertia <em>and a former editor at </em>Surfer.</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2021-08-24T15:45:15-04:00">Tuesday, August 24, 2021</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-main-images/1041%20essay%20art_Weisberg.png" width="981" height="400" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/alumni" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Alumni</a></li><li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/athletics" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Athletics</a></li><li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/career" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Career</a></li><li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/deman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">DEMAN</a></li><li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/health-and-fitness" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Health and Fitness</a></li><li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/opinion" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Opinion</a></li><li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/professional-news" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Professional News</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/zach-weisberg" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Zach Weisberg</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issues/special-2021" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Special 2021</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> Yes <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue <h3 class="field-label"> Cover Story </h3> <h3 class="field-label"> Homepage </h3> Tue, 24 Aug 2021 20:05:41 +0000 Adrienne Martin 18514022 at https://alumni.duke.edu https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/how-turn-duke-english-degree-surfing-career#comments Seeing Beyond the Mat https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/seeing-beyond-mat <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <!-- #BeginEditable "body" --><table width="98%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"><tbody><tr><td height="71"> </td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><div class="media-header top2"><div class="caption caption-center"><div class="caption-width-container" style="width: 670px;"><div class="caption-inner"><img src="/issues/010211/images/010211_depspt_1.jpg" alt="Relentless abandon: Mike Bell catches his opponent in Cameron showdown." width="670" height="275" /><p class="caption-text"><div class="media-h-caption"><strong>Relentless abandon: </strong>Mike Bell catches his opponent in Cameron showdown.</div><div class="media-h-credit">Jon Gardiner</p></div></div></div></div></div><p class="bodycontent-2010">When I tell people I’m the wrestling coach at Duke University, the first thing they say to me is: ‘That’s great! I didn’t know Duke had a wrestling program,’ followed by, ‘So, do you know Coach K?’ ”</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">It was a well-delivered joke that one suspects head coach Clar Anderson has told before. As with most effective jokes, its veracity gives it punch, and the room full of former Duke wrestlers at the second annual Friends of Duke Wrestling Reunion held at the Washington Duke Inn this past winter loved it. The quip was an endearing reminder of the wrestling program they supported, but, more important, it was a window into Anderson’s world, where the pursuit of excellence in a sport that yields zero revenue and enjoys little fanfare is riddled with challenges.</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">As a former Duke wrestler, I can attest to the delicate mixture of humor and determination required to negotiate such challenges. Anderson’s the only person who’s ever called me Zachsimus; he even named a wrestling move “The Zachsimus.” Although I have a short list of wrestling accolades I recall fondly, knowing that Anderson, who was an NCAA National Champion at Oklahoma State University and a three-time All-American during his college career, refers to any form of wrestling technique as “The Zachsimus” ranks among my proudest achievements. It certainly beats Anderson’s favorite story about me, which involves my accidentally breaking my hand during a freshman year wrestle-off. It was embarrassing. He loves telling that one.</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">But much has changed in the nearly four years since I left Duke and wrestling behind, and if the program's recent upswing continues, Anderson's self-deprecating joke will soon be retired. For the first time in eighty-three years, the program had a designated All-American in Konrad Dudziak '10, who closed his collegiate career as the most-decorated wrestler in Duke's history, finishing fourth in the 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships and second in 2009. His success, along with a strong team effort, put Duke at No. 19 in Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine's 2009 pre-season national rankings, which for Duke is, to put it lightly, unexpected. (With six starters returning to the lineup this year, the team should continue to build momentum.)</p><div class="media-header flr" style="width: 250px;"><div class="caption caption-center"><div class="caption-width-container" style="width: 250px;"><div class="caption-inner"><img src="/issues/010211/images/010211_depspt_2.jpg" alt="Coach Anderson, standing, gives pep talk to Bell before match." width="250" height="341" /><p class="caption-text"><div class="media-h-caption">Coach Anderson, standing, gives pep talk to Bell before match.</div><div class="media-h-credit">Jon Gardiner</p></div></div></div></div></div><p class="bodycontent-2010">One day just a few years earlier, Coach Anderson entered the wrestling room and repeated to us a deflating conversation he had had with then-athletics director Joe Alleva. It went something like this: “The only reason I don’t drop the wrestling program is because it doesn’t cost us enough money to be worth dropping.”Anderson responded, “Well, it’s a good thing I have great self-esteem.”</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">Despite a lack of scholarships and a meager endowment compared with ACC foes, Duke wrestling has found success through Anderson’s spirit of “relentless abandon.” “I want my athletes to be relentless, and I want them to abandon their fears of failure,” says Anderson. His mantra has built five ACC championship teams and earned a regular-season ACC title. He’s won 2004 ACC Coach of the Year honors and the 2007 Bob Bubb Coaching Excellence Award for mentorship of student-athletes, which makes sense considering that Duke wrestling earned the highest GPA of all Division I wrestling programs in both 2007 and 2008.</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">The first place Anderson takes recruits on official visits? The library’s Rare Book Room. Although an unlikely recruiting destination, it speaks to the ethic of the program and the reality of the sport, which rarely provides even its most accomplished athletes a salaried livelihood. Essentially, college wrestlers crave an education—if only as a practical measure. “There is not a lot of fanfare for what you do,” says Anderson. “It’s a personal accomplishment. It’s like that person who climbs mountains or does things for time. They don’t have people cheering for them. It sort of reflects life a lot more accurately than it does for these superstars when they slam a basketball and everyone cheers. No one cheers when you get to work and hand in a report. Where are the high-fives then?”</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">Anderson earned his undergraduate degree at Oklahoma State University in 1985, majoring in fire protection and safety engineering. After a brief stint as an environmental hygienist implementing an asbestos-abatement program at OSU, he set his sights on joining the 1988 Olympic team. But the Olympic trials proved unfruitful, so Anderson returned home to work at his family’s plumbing company. A few years later, he decided to pursue a graduate program at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. “I decided that I wanted my life to reflect my values in building people, and running an asbestos-abatement business wasn’t that,” he says.</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">In 1997, while working as a children’s minister at an independent church, Anderson began coaching at Duke. “I got into coaching to be able to look back when I’m done and see that I’ve impacted many different people to be great and challenged them to go far beyond what I’ve ever done,” he says.</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">“When people ask me about my old wrestlers, I barely remember how they did on the mat. I remember the first time I met them and how they were as people.”</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">Anderson’s approach to building athletes has attracted an impressive support staff. This fall, Cornell’s Jordan Leen, a recent NCAA champion and three-time All-American, became a full-time assistant coach. Leen, whose alma mater was unanimously ranked first in the country in 2010 NCAA preseason polls, credits Anderson’s philosophy as a major factor in attracting him to Duke. Like Anderson, Leen appreciates the importance of developing well-rounded student-athletes who excel in the wrestling room, in the classroom, and beyond.</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">“You don’t have to choose one or the other, you know? And I think that’s the message” Anderson is championing, says Leen. “You can be great in a lot of different avenues. Go be great at electrical engineering and also be great in the wrestling room. Wrestling’s not going to be our life for most wrestlers, no matter how good you get.”</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">Konrad Dudziak, the program’s first All-American, understands the impact of Anderson’s approach. During his freshman year, no longer interested in wrestling, he chose to leave the team and began a downward spiral characterized by academic suspensions and legal trouble. “At the end of my freshman year, I had twenty-six citations in one week,” says Dudziak. “I still believe it’s a school record. I had a felony charge for larceny. I stole a golf cart. At that point I didn’t really care. I didn’t think I was going to come back to Duke. But I decided to get things together.”</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">Knowing that Dudziak might benefit from the structure, discipline, and mentoring available in the wrestling room, Anderson gave him another chance. “To expect people not to make mistakes is foolish and blind,” Anderson says. “That’s where we challenge them to be a better person after that issue, and, fortunately, it’s not a majority of the time.”</p><p class="bodycontent-2010">“I don’t think I’d be on the team anymore for any other college coach,” Dudziak told me last winter.</p><p class="bodycontent-2010"><span class="bodycontent-2010">Anderson’s attention to his students as people, his ability to “see beyond the mat,” as a former assistant puts it, is the essence of his mantra. As successful as he was while competing, Anderson rejects the notion that athleticism should define him—or anyone. “I never used to wear wrestling T-shirts, because I never wanted to be known as a wrestler,” he says.“Everywhere I went people would say, ‘Hey, there’s that wrestler,’ and I thought to myself, ‘I’m so much more than that.’ ”</span><br /><br /><span class="byline">—Zach Weisberg</span><br /><br /><span class="pubtitle">Weisberg ’07 is the founder and editor in chief of TheInertia.com, home to commentary from thoughtful surfers worldwide. He is also an editor at large for </span>Surfer<span class="pubtitle"> magazine and has written for</span> The New York Times, Esquire, <span class="pubtitle">and</span> O, The Oprah Magazine.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><!-- #EndEditable --> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2011-01-31T00:00:00-05:00">Monday, January 31, 2011</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/zach-weisberg" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Zach Weisberg</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/jan-feb-2011" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Jan - Feb 2011</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Coach Clar Anderson builds a Duke wrestling legacy</div></div></section> Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18500650 at https://alumni.duke.edu