Ask an Alum: Rosalie Forman Samuels ’09 on following curiosity and holding on to core values

By: Sarah-Mae McCullough, Editorial Content Manager​​​​​

Ahead of this year's SAAS in the City on April 25, we catch up with our alumni panelists, who will share more about their journeys at the event. Learn more about SAAS in the City and get your tickets here. 

Since graduating from Duke, Rosalie’s career has taken her everywhere from NBC News (where she worked on the analytics team) to leading marketing efforts at Venmo to her current role driving user growth at a software technology company. She’s proud of her ability to pivot and follow different interests – all while holding on to the relationships and core values that she developed at SAAS. 

Ahead of this year’s SAAS in the City, where Rosalie will be one of our featured alumni speakers, we chatted with her about life at and after SAAS. 

At Duke, you studied International Studies, with minors in Journalism and Global Health. How did you pick that trio?

I started taking Chinese at SAAS, and I became really fascinated by the culture and the socio-economic and political trends. I was really keen on understanding a part of the world that I didn't know a ton about, so really it was just curiosity that led me to that major. And it was that curiosity that made me want to potentially pursue a career in journalism. It all came from curiosity about the world around me and some of the problems and issues that plagued countries around the world. 

I think that’s what college is all about: the ability to study freely. I’m glad I wasn’t overly focused on the end goal and could just pursue my interests and trust the process. 

I love that message. Looking at your resume, you began your career with such a wide range of experiences, with internships at a research lab, Starbucks, and news publications. 

Yeah, my very first work experience was actually my Senior Project at SAAS. I worked in a mosquito lab, culturing thousands of mosquitoes through the various phases of development to support malaria research. SAAS opening up the door for students to get work experience set me up for the rest of my internships, because I had already had some experience. That wasn't common at the time.

After that, I had a number of journalism internships across MTV, a local station in Durham, where I went to school, and CBS News, and a more business-related internship in Shanghai at Starbucks, where I got to learn about coffee and tea products in Asia and where they sourced their ingredients. That was an incredible experience. 

Besides getting a head start on internships, how else did SAAS set you up for success in college, your career, and life beyond?

SAAS shaped me fundamentally in so many facets of my life. In terms of academics, SAAS taught me how to be a very critical and open thinker. And, my teachers at SAAS taught me how to write. When I went to college, I realized a lot of people had very little experience writing papers. That alone gave me confidence early in my college education that I had the tools to succeed. 

Relationships-wise, when I was at SAAS, class sizes were between 70 and 100 people. We were quite close with all of our classmates, and we developed really strong connections with teachers. I remember more teachers and had such close relationships compared to almost everyone I know who didn't go to SAAS. 

Some of my friends from SAAS have been my friends for more than 20 years at this point – lifelong friends – and I think it's because we share so many values that were instilled in us at SAAS. It’s not a coincidence; it’s because of the environment and values at SAAS.

What are some of those shared values you took away from SAAS? 

One of SAAS’s values is getting people ready for college but also life. SAAS helped me find a sense of balance. It didn’t over-emphasize or derive value from just one facet of who you are. It’s not like academics were the only thing that mattered; it was also preparing you to be a good human in this world who contributed and gave back.

That came through in how the teachers were invested in relationships with students. Yes, the education was absolutely top-tier, but SAAS teachers would also go the extra mile to check in on you if you were having a bad day and be a shoulder to lean on. That set the standard for being a balanced individual – the balance of academics, being who you are, and giving back to the community.

Spreading your wings to different disciplines is also huge at SAAS. I played sports most of my way through high school, and then in the spring of my senior year I decided to do the musical. I don't think I ever would have done that had I not been at SAAS. There was a culture of trying things and not being afraid to fail and pushing yourself in various disciplines to live a more balanced life. 

Were there any adults in particular who made a big difference for you? 

Rob Phillips was my American Studies teacher, and he was also my soccer coach throughout high school, and I went to Alaska on a big trip that he led. It was a relationship that was in the classroom, on the field, and out in the wilderness, so that’s a rare thing. He had a particularly strong impact by building my confidence, calling me out if I wasn’t achieving my potential, but also being someone who could read me if I was down and be a supportive mentor if I needed to talk about anything. 

The other teacher I’ll call out is Joel Underwood. He was my Speech and Debate and History teacher sophomore year. In terms of fantastic educators, he brought history to life as if it was an HBO show. It didn't feel like you were sitting in class, but it felt like your eyes were being opened to a whole different part of the world, or like you were in a time machine.

Your career has taken you from science to journalism to business and marketing. What have you been most proud of along the way? 

I'm proud of my ability to pivot. For example, upon exiting school, I thought I wanted to be a journalist, which is a fantastic career. But as I was working at NBC, the thing that ultimately captured my interest was the business model of news and how that was changing at the time. 

I’m proud of myself for not being married to the first thing I wanted to do – for keeping an open mind and seeing the big picture about what’s exciting to me.