Paulie's Blog: School is back in session ... sort of (cont'd)

At Duke, learning really does go way beyond the classroom, and I don't mean that in a corny marketing kind of way. One of the reasons I decided to come here is because of how active the student body is and how much the university encourages student involvement and activism far beyond the realm of politics. I get multiple e-mails each day about all sorts of esteemed individuals -- ranging from entrepreneurs to mayors to engineers to other students -- coming to speak at Duke on almost every topic imaginable. The university strongly supports any opportunity that allows students to turn classroom lessons into real-world experiences before graduation, resulting in all sorts of student groups that often benefit Durham, N.C., our nation and our world.

The rest of the week brought a manageable amount of academic work (most of which got done in one of the study rooms in the library), a few meals with friends and a lot of time on the phone with crew chief Duane Knorr. No matter where you put me, I'll find a way to think about racing.

Duane and I have hashed through a lot and, to be blunt, feel pretty strongly that we've identified a lot of where we messed up in Texas. I'm really fortunate in that I've been around a number of people who have taught me a great deal about how and why race cars work, such as Elton Sawyer, Kenny Francis, Wally Brown, the late Steve Peterson and my father, allowing me to have in-depth conversations with Duane that have helped us identify problems in a relatively short amount of time. We were also able to identify a few areas where I'll consider trying some different shock packages in the future that match our spring package better.

This blog was supposed to be about school ... yet I ended up talking about shocks and springs. I guess that shows you what's on my mind!

One of the highlights of the week was on Wednesday night. As social activities coordinator for the Newman Catholic Student Center, I organized an event, along with help from some fellow students, where we all went to the local ice skating rink and played broomball. For the readers who aren't familiar with broomball, it is essentially hockey with a few important exceptions: it's played with sneakers instead of ice skates, a ball instead of a puck, and brooms instead of hockey sticks. Emphasis should be placed on the "sneakers instead of skates" part, as I landed on my butt about 20 times. Yes, it still hurts to sit down, but it was well worth it. We had a blast, losing the first game and winning the second.

I hope you've enjoyed this blog and I look forward to writing the next entry. To give a bit of a sneak preview, I'll hopefully be talking about the launch of my new Web site, as I am working with a great group of guys to redo my site. Have a great week!

Paulie Harraka, a native of Fairlawn, N.J., is a student at Duke University. He is a member of the Drive for Diversity program and races in the Camping World West Series for Bill McAnally Racing. Harraka won the 2008 track championship at All American Speedway.