So as I said in my first entry, these blogs are going to attempt to "give you some insight into the life of a 19-year-old, up-and-coming NASCAR driver who (tries really hard) to balance racing and his life as a Duke University freshman." In light of that, this blog is going to switch gears in a big way, just as my life has. After a week of racing immersion last week, I've had to change hats from "race car driver" to "student." Both lives are equally as eventful!

I arrived back at Duke last Sunday around 3 in the afternoon, just as my peers were arriving back from their Spring Break. Something about walking into my dorm room felt like "coming home." My first thought was, "Wow, it's weird that my dorm room is like home. Does that make me a nerd?"

As much as I do wear the cap of "student" here at Duke, I don't believe I play the role that most people assume students play.

My next thought began an argument inside my head: "No, it doesn't make you a nerd. You sleep here every night. Your clothes and personal belongings are here. It is home!" Not that being a nerd is a bad thing, but I'm not a nerd for calling school "home," am I?

I spent the remainder of Sunday unpacking, getting myself organized, and reviewing what I had on my plate for the week. The religion with the highest statistical representation on campus is Catholicism, which has resulted in a vibrant and active Catholic community under the organization of the Newman Catholic Student Center. I'm an active member of the group, currently serving as the social activities coordinator. Before I got to Duke, which is a Methodist school, the on-campus chapel became inter-denominational. Because of that, we are able to hold mass there every Sunday night at 9 p.m. I ended my Sunday at mass -- a great way to end one week and start the next -- and got ready for the week ahead.

When Monday morning came, I had to get back into student mode pretty quickly, as I had a short assignment for my Writing 20 course (mandatory course for all Duke freshman) due on Monday afternoon. I got that done in the morning, went to all of my classes, and began to sort through all of the e-mails that I had fallen behind on over break. When I get around race cars, they tend to really hold my attention over everything else, so if I wasn't doing something to try and make our NAPA AutoCare Toyotas faster over my Spring Break, I was probably sleeping, resulting in a lag in my response to e-mails.

I got through with that on Monday evening and headed to a weekly Bible study that I participate in through another on-campus Christian group that I'm involved in, Campus Crusade for Christ. Affectionately referred to as "Cru," it's how I have met many of my good friends -- including my roommate for next year. We studied Philippians 2:1-5, which made for some extremely interesting discussion amongst our group of 12 guys. After that, I got a few other things done and headed for bed.

As much as I do wear the cap of "student" here at Duke, I don't believe I play the role that most people assume students play. If I were to describe Duke in a single word, I would undoubtedly use the word "engaging."

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.