30 days of thanks {UNC}

Hey y'all,

So if you have not been reading around these parts than you might not know that I bleed Carolina blue. However, if you knew me before May 2008 that would be an entirely different story. After junior year I went on a roadtrip to visit colleges with my Mom and I fell in love with the University of Richmond and University of Virginia. UNC was always a school that was on my list to apply to but was more of a safety for me than where I thought I would end up. I mean it had everything I was looking for: green spaces, pretty brick buildings, great English program, below the Mason Dixon line, and greek life to boot. UNC was also only 1.5 hours from my parents and included instate tuition but I thought I wanted to cross over the boarder to Virginia. Fast forward to college acceptances and low and behold UNC's early decisions came and I got in! I had also gotten into Meredith College (my super safety school) and I anxiously waited to hear back from my top two. Well, unfortunately UVA did not want me and UofR is a bit pricey seeing as it is a private school. So I decided that UNC was the way to go and upon moving day I did not feel homesick but very excited and content. 

My first dorm room

Tradition states that if your drink from the Old Well on the first day of classes you will have a great semester.

Fast forward 4 years and I was so upset to be leaving the one place that felt like home outside of my family. Chapel Hill and UNC area magical combination and there is even a quote about it:

“Without even noticing, UNC seeps into your pores. By junior year, she’s in your blood. You can’t remember a time when you didn’t have moments on campus where you lose your breath for a second and all you can think is, ‘Wow, I love this place.’ …You find yourself loving a state you’d never given a thought three years prior. Loving North Carolina because if the University so tirelessly seeks to serve it, it must be worthwhile... And then UNC tells you to leave. And it hurts. But I understand. Four years have taught me what loyalty is about, what being a Tar Heel is about.”-Elyse Ashburn DTH editor 2004

To say I was sad to leave Carolina after four years of learning, loving, and finding the best sisters ever was an understatement. Upon graduation I had no idea where my life would lead. During my junior year I had a mini crisis and decided my dream/goal of becoming a book editor was no longer my path and I had no clue what to do with my life. After lots of cover letters and a few interviews I received a call for a job at no other than my alma mater. It seemed like I was no longer done with UNC and I am so blessed that I get to participate in other students' journeys at Carolina. So on this day of Homecoming I have to say I am thankful that the Lord saw that I needed UNC rather than UVA and saw fit to change my life in so many ways over the last 5 years so that I would follow his plan including back to the small town of Chapel Hill.I am sure UNC will continue to bless me in so many ways but I am so thankful for my acceptance to the oldest public university and the many ways that I was challenged and changed into the woman I currently am. 

 Charles Kuralt, Journalist, at the UNC Bicentennial in 1993

“What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. Or the crisp October nights or the memory of dogwoods blooming. Our loyalty is not only to William Richardson Davie, though we are proud of what he did 200 years ago today. Nor even to Dean Smith, though we are proud of what he did last March. No, our love for this place is based on the fact that it is, as it was meant to be, the University of the people.

 

“I love UNC. I love the quad in the spring and the arboretum in the fall. I love the Pit on a sunny day and Graham Memorial Lounge on a rainy one. I love Roy [Williams] all the time. But what makes UNC truly special is not our beautiful campus, our distinguished reputation or even our basketball team. It’s us—the student body—who make UNC what it is.”-Eve M Carson. Student Body President 2007