Shelby Epps ('13) is a Project Leader at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, a part of the Duke University School of Medicine. "Currently, I work on a National Institutes of Health funded longitudinal clinical research program: Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)," she says. "I work with a team of communications specialists to coordinate  communications across a network of about 1200 investigators across the country. My duties includes serving as central content developer for all major communications and overseeing the distribution strategy for mass communications and surveys."

Shelby's advice to Writing and Rhetoric majors: "Explore the things you love. I went on a crazy backwards adventure to get to where I am today—that included years of not using my degree. The life lessons I learned. and what I learned about myself as a person were as valuable as my degree. Now I get to use both! Explore the things you love, even if it takes you on a crazy backwards unexpected adventure."

Shelby lives in Durham, NC, where she and her partner have purchased their first home.