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From California to Carolina, Adam wants to give every community the health care they deserve.
Incoming first-year Adam Sherif spent his high school years creating a community for his fellow students and making health care more accessible for residents in his hometown of Sacramento, California.
Now, he’s looking forward to bringing that work to Carolina.
There’s a strong emphasis on community service at Carolina, and you can see how the students are creating real changes in their community and around the world. I don’t want to come to school just to study and get good grades. I want to make a difference while I’m doing it.
Sherif’s drive to serve began at his private Catholic school, where he felt disconnected from his culture as an Egyptian and Muslim. He says joining the Black Student Union was the turning point when he began to think about service and belonging.
“I joined the Black Student Union during my sophomore year, and I started reading and noticing the hardships we were experiencing as a community,” Sherif says.
That led him to found the Arab/Muslim Student Union to further serve students in his school who felt they didn’t fit into other communities.
“It can be hard to feel like the odd man out, so having a group to identify with was important to me,” says Sherif, who served as the organization’s president. “We also used the unions as a space to talk about different perspectives and hear from each other.”
When the pandemic began during Sherif’s sophomore year, he started searching for an opportunity to extend his service beyond his high school to help the Bay Area community. His mission was motivated by his father, an emergency room physician, who was on the front line of the response.
“My father would come home from the ER and have stories of the suffering observed before vaccines were available,” Sherif says. “The pandemic put a pause on a lot of our high school activities, but I started asking around about how I could contribute.”
His high school organized a vaccine clinic, and despite its success, Sherif felt they weren’t reaching those who truly needed assistance.
“Although the vaccine clinic at my school was successful, I looked at the line of cars and saw people driving Mercedes and Teslas, and I realized to really make a difference, I needed to go into the community,” Sherif says.
Working alongside school board member Dr. Kawanaa Carter, Sherif helped organize another vaccine clinic, this time focused on underserved populations in his area. He directed traffic in the pop-up drive-thru clinics, handed out paperwork, input data, filled out vaccine cards and recruited his classmates to join in the effort. The clinic vaccinated almost 30,000 people in eight months and held clinics in public spaces within the community to ensure accessibility.
Volunteering with the clinic solidified Sherif’s interest in health care, and he chose to attend Carolina to pursue a career in public health.
I want to study health disparities and how we can address them. COVID was a reality check for most of us that these communities have been hurting for so long, and it was only amplified during the pandemic.
The University’s focus on service appealed to Sherif, who wants to continue to contribute to ending health inequality. Carolina also stood out to Sherif because his father has been a fan of the University since he immigrated to the United States after attending medical school in Egypt.
“My father went to a seminar in Chapel Hill while he was a resident, and he absolutely loved the school, and especially the basketball team,” Sherif says.
Although he’ll have to wait a few months to attend his first basketball game as a student, Sherif is looking forward to his first day on campus and meeting his roommate, an international student from Nepal.
“I’ve never lived anywhere except California, so I’m looking forward to coming to Chapel Hill and working, living and studying beside my classmates from all over the world and learning from them,” Sherif says.
Story courtesy of UNC.edu.
She’s driving to Chapel Hill like her fellow incoming Tar Heels, but Paige Court could take to the skies for the journey if she wanted.
The Goldsboro native earned her private pilot certification this year and has hopes to build a career around her love of flying. Court plans to join the Air Force ROTC at Carolina and enter the Air Force itself after she graduates.
Like obtaining her pilot’s license, coming to Carolina is a dream come true.
I just always drew more to being a Tar Heel than any other college. I just always wanted to come here, and I’m so excited that I get to.
Story courtesy of UNC.edu.
Meixing Liu kept a pretty busy schedule throughout high school.
When she wasn’t a full-time student at Nash-Rocky Mount Early College High School — where she was also earning her associate’s degree — Liu was running the front of the house at her family’s Chinese restaurant, working six hours a day during the week and 12-hour shifts on the weekend.
Working a full-time schedule at the restaurant in Spring Hope, North Carolina, made it increasingly clear that she didn’t want a career as a business owner or in the food industry. She still wanted to work closely with people, but in a health care setting instead. So, balancing a fear of blood with aspirations of becoming a health professional, Liu determined optometry was her future.
“You get to learn a lot when you’re working that in that type of setting, but over time, it gets monotonous,” she said of working 50 hours a week in the restaurant. “I wanted to go into health care because I like to help people. I just gravitated towards it. I definitely looked at other careers, but they just didn’t suit me. I need to be in a people environment because I can’t work at a desk all day.”
The incoming first-year student at Carolina will begin making strides toward her goal when she officially begins her studies in Chapel Hill this fall. The Tar Heel plans to study biology and neuroscience in the College of Arts and Sciences, possibly adding a minor in chemistry, as she spends the next four years preparing for her future career as an eye doctor.
In addition to her biology and neuroscience coursework, Liu will be both an Honors Carolina Scholar and Woods Family Scholar at Carolina. She plans to take advantage of both programs to maximize her learning experiences.
She intends to study abroad through the Honors Carolina global programs, which feature internships and academic opportunities around the world. Liu wants to visit Japan or Korea or return to China, where she lived with her grandparents until she was 5.
Through the Woods Family Scholarship program, Liu hopes to hone her leadership and communication skills — assets she wants to strengthen for her medical career.
“I’ve always been kind of introverted, and I want to put myself out there more and out of my comfort zone,” she said.
But it’s not only the academics that Liu is excited for. She’s wanted to come to Carolina since her elementary school teacher first told her about the University in third grade, and she’s eager to now become a Tar Heel.
I definitely like the academic rigor. I feel like that’s something awesome. I felt very welcomed when I toured the school. I want to expand my social circle and get a feel for how classes will be.
Though Liu still may be heading back home to help out at the family restaurant, she plans on staying busy in Chapel Hill by diving headfirst into life at Carolina — from game days to volunteering in the community.
She already has her first stop as a Tar Heel planned out.
“Exploring Franklin Street,” she said. “I’ve never really been there. I want to check out all the stores and restaurants.”
Story courtesy of UNC.edu.
Alexis Tchakarov discovered her love of taekwondo when she was 10 and has collected an extensive list of medals and titles since then — including becoming a taekwondo world champion, not just once but four times.
As an incoming first-year student, the Tar Heel plans on studying biology and drawing on her taekwondo experiences and accomplishments to succeed in the classroom.
I’ve learned a lot of life skills through taekwondo. I definitely see it crossing over into my life here at UNC.
Story courtesy of UNC.edu.
As a Chancellor’s Science Scholar who plans on studying biology, Locklear participated in the six-week immersion program, which helps prepare first-year scholars for their STEM degree and learn more about Carolina’s campus.
Thanks to that head start, Locklear feels ready to begin a full class load in the fall. After spending her final year in high school learning online, she’s eager to jump into an array of social activities at Carolina.
Locklear is a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and she’s hoping her time on campus will provide her with an opportunity to share more about her culture with fellow Tar Heels. She also heard about various campus groups, such as Carolina for the Kids, and is considering joining their efforts.
I want to learn more about the body and eventually, maybe, create something that can help others and bring it back to my community.
Locklear spoke about getting into her dream school, what she’s most looking forward to doing at Carolina and what she hopes to bring to the Tar Heel experience.
It’s always been my dream school. When I’ve done summer camps, we went on tours, and I fell in love with the campus and the research labs.
It’s different than I expected, but I’m excited. I started online, but it’ll be different when I’m on campus and in person. Talking with upperclassmen about their transition helped. I’m looking forward to being able to grow as a person and a student.
I’m looking forward to sports because I missed out on that in high school. I took classes this summer, so the class part I think I’ll get adjusted to easier, but I’m looking forward to the social aspect of college. I’m also looking forward to stepping out of my comfort zone at Carolina and pushing my limits so I can grow.
A sense of diversity. A big part of me is my culture, so maybe joining a group for my culture and spreading more information about it. I’m Native American — I’m Lumbee — and I feel like a lot of people don’t really know about Native Americans.
I started beading. We make our own earrings. I’m trying to get back into that. I took a few dance classes, but I didn’t stick with it. I like going to pow-wows and stuff. I know they have those on campus, so I’ll be volunteering and helping with those.
I just want to be able to find my purpose within STEM, being a woman and being able to feel like I’m successful in my field and career. I think after graduation, I want to continue working in a research lab.
Story courtesy of UNC.edu.
Three summers ago, incoming Carolina student Laura Hughes of Haw River, North Carolina, packed up her string instrument and traveled to Italy. And when she put on a performance, instead of cheering the notes she played, the audience applauded the arrows she launched.
Hughes was competing in the World Archery Field Championships as a member of the U.S. Archery team, accomplishing a goal she had since she began working with a bow and arrow years earlier.
Next week, she’ll make good on another long-term pursuit: starting class at Carolina.
“I knew that I wanted to go into some sort of science-based or health-based field, and Carolina has really great science and health-based programs,” Hughes says.
Aside from her pursuits with a bow and arrow, Hughes has plans to later enroll in physician assistant school, where her aspiration is serving the public.
“I worked customer service last year, and even that little taste of being able to help people solve their problems, I was like ‘I want to do this forever,’” she says.
I would love to be able to help people and help with health.
Story courtesy of UNC.edu.
In Chapel Hill, the UNC acronym stands for more than just the University of North Carolina.
With more than 80 team and individual national titles held by Tar Heels, UNC is also proudly short for the University of National Champions.
This fall, the Carolina community will be adding a new community member who has a few national championships of his own: Jonathan Zhao.
An incoming first-year student from Cary, Jonathan Zhao is a two-time national champion in ice dancing — figure skating that is essentially ballroom dancing on ice. Whether it was skating on the ice two hours a day, five days a week or off-ice ballet training, he has dedicated himself to his craft for more than a decade.
It’s that discipline he plans to bring to his time as a Tar Heel. Learn how Zhao hopes to tap into his ice dancing success to excel at Carolina.
I started figure skating when I was 4 but then switched to ice dancing around middle school. At first, it was something my mom wanted me to try when I was young. She has always been interested in ice skating, so she took me to the rink one day, and I started to really like ice skating.
Ever since then, I’ve been slowly working my way up. Over the past few years, after switching to ice dance, I’ve won the national championship at my level twice (2019 and 2017.)
There’s a lot to ice dancing that I like. With the music, you can create a story with it, and then you bring that story to life on the ice. That’s something that I’ve really enjoyed doing. Besides that, I like the feeling of skating, the wind brushing through my hair. And then just working with my coach and my partner. It’s something that I enjoy.
I want to study computer science, and I’m also interested in business. UNC is where I could do both. Both of my parents are computer programmers, so I’ve been around that stuff for a long time, and I’ve taken an interest in it. Since I was in middle school, I’ve had a dream of starting my own business, so I want to merge my two interests together and eventually start up my own company. I’m looking into artificial intelligence and machine learning right now.
Getting to know people. Going to my first classes. Going to some social events. Just the college experience. It’s about making friends that last for a long time, learning things that you can use for your future and studying things that you’re interested in. Computer science, for me, is something I like, so I wanted to study that, then it’s just going to social events and enjoying the freedom that college brings.
One thing that I hope to bring is my interest in ice dance. I hope to share that with my friends, the clubs I join, the people around me and maybe take them ice skating sometime. Besides that, it’s the things I’ve learned from skating, like teamwork and perseverance. I want to bring that to the community and try my best here.
Story courtesy of UNC.edu.
Shristi Sharma has been teaching herself computer programming since fourth grade. She eventually learned so much that she was able to design an app that could help predict Alzheimer’s Disease through a smart watch.
Now, she’s coming to Carolina to take what she learned on her own to the next level.
“I was just doing it as a hobby for all these years,” she says. “It has all been independent. This is my first time to get formal training in something I’m really passionate about.”
As she hones her computer science skills to address health issues impacting millions of Americans, she hopes to make a difference on campus and beyond.
Learn more about Sharma’s goals at Carolina.
I plan on studying computer science, but more specifically, I want to do research in computer science. I think that it’s more than a major, it’s a skill. It’s super interdisciplinary, so you can use it with any subject you want. For me, those subjects recently have become health, neuroscience and psychology. It’s brains, minds and computers. That’s the intersection I want to work at.
The reason this interest came up is because three years ago, a really close family friend died due to Alzheimer’s, and I was trying to find what I could do to help such a big problem. There was this moment of insight when I was going through a magazine, and on one page, I read this article about living with Alzheimer’s and how hard it is, and on the right side was an ad for the latest FitBit. The two images converged in my mind. I thought, “What if you could predict Alzheimer’s with a smart watch?” That’s one of the main research interests I hope I can continue at Carolina.
One thing that I’ve seen a lot about being a Tar Heel is just how dedicated all the students are to community service and social engagement. It’s so high at Carolina, and I really love that.
I think that’s what it means to be a Tar Heel: to be completely invested in your community.
My passion for research. I’ll have some great opportunities to work with professors here and hopefully be able to contribute to the community that way. I’m also from a very, very small school. I had nine kids in my graduating class, but they were from six different countries. It was a really tight-knit group of students, and I learned a lot about diversity and how to be empathetic and listen to people. I’m hoping that I can bring that to UNC as I expand my world family.
It’s an exceptional opportunity to be a part of three communities: UNC, Duke and the Roberston is itself a little community. Having that and all the simulating experiences will help me become a better leader myself. But also, as a Robertson, I’ll be connecting with so many other student leaders and the opportunity to learn to lead alongside other leaders, I think, will be a big one for me.
Story courtesy of UNC.edu.