被她的激情所驱使

今年早些时候，凯莉·伯勒尔21岁，22岁.A.T.) stood in front of a classroom of East Chapel Hill High School students, 准备好第一次上课. Teaching had been Burrell’s career aspiration since she was in middle school, and she was now participating in a teaching internship for her master’s degree at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of 教育.

“有那么一刻，我想，‘我该怎么做呢?’”伯勒尔说. “It was a test of whether I could really do what I had always wanted to do.”

If Burrell felt any doubt as she looked at the students seated before her, she could draw on her experiences at Carolina as ironclad proof of her capabilities. She could think of how she had helped fellow undergraduates as a tutor at the UNC Writing Center. She could point to her selection as drum major of the UNC Marching Tar Heels her senior year. She could remember her tenure as president of the band service fraternity Kappa Kappa Psi, 领导集团的计划和项目.

The well-rounded college experiences that prepared Burrell to step with confidence to the front of the classroom are a testament to her commitment to letting her passions lead her. And Burrell pointed to a pivotal moment that helped her maintain the resolve to follow her own path, the one that had led her in high school to embrace her love of literature and music and being a member of the band.

That moment came soon after she was admitted to Carolina and invited to be part of the Honors Carolina program, when Burrell found out she had been awarded the Boneparth Family Honors Carolina Scholarship.

“奖学金让我感到被信任，”伯勒尔说. “加入乐队之类的事情并不是为了打造简历. It was my passion, and it was how I believed I could best be involved in Carolina. The scholarship gave me validation that I should continue doing what I love to do, because that is what had gotten me to this point and others saw the value in it.”

The scholarship Burrell had earned was established in 2016 thanks to a gift from Heather ’80 and Peter ’80 Boneparth. 从他们的本科时代开始, the Boneparths have stayed closely connected to Carolina through the years as volunteers, 捐赠者和三个孩子的父母也成为了焦油高跟鞋.

“We were very grateful for the experiences we had there,Heather Boneparth说. “I enjoyed everything that a large university offers from academics to extracurriculars and sports. 成为荣誉社团的一员是一个很大的奖励. We always felt that if there were ways we could help the University, we should do it.”

她自己也是荣誉课程的学生, Heather Boneparth served for 17 years on the Honors Carolina Advisory Board, a group that assists administrators and deans in expanding program offerings and strengthening both academic and advising resources to help honors students achieve post-graduate success. 通过吸引和支持ag真人娱乐大学的优秀学生, Honors Carolina enriches campus life for all students both in and beyond the classroom.

作为这个项目的大使, Heather Boneparth met several high school students who were considering coming to Chapel Hill as part of Honors Carolina but had also received strong scholarship offers from other colleges. The Boneparths felt that providing a full merit scholarship was essential to ensuring that top students ultimately chose Carolina by providing them with proof that Carolina would be invested in their success.

“Carolina wasn’t offering the financial support that other schools were, 我们想帮忙解决这个问题,Heather Boneparth说. 这就是卡罗莱纳荣誉奖学金的起源. These 10% of students drive innovation and raise the bar for everyone. We wanted to make sure that Carolina is competitive for those students, 因为我们知道卡罗莱纳有很多东西可以提供给他们.”

凯莉·伯勒尔(凯莉伯勒尔)成为他们奖学金的第一位获得者, and Heather Boneparth has also acted as an informal mentor to Burrell. 在她访问教堂山期间, she and Burrell would often get together for lunch or a walk through campus.

她说:“她总是这么忙，这让我一直感到惊讶。. “每次我见到她, 她对自己所参与的事情感到更自在, 到大四的时候，她已经达到了顶尖水平. 她取得了如此多的成就，看着她成长真的很有趣.”

Burrell graduated in May 2022 with a master’s degree in education, and is interviewing for high school teaching positions to begin in the fall. 当她开始她的教学生涯时, Burrell says she will remember the enthusiasm and energy her favorite professors at Carolina, 包括她的荣誉课程, 带进教室.

“Being passionate and caring about the subject material makes a huge difference to the way your students learn,伯勒尔说. “这就是我在荣誉项目中所经历的. My goal as a teacher is to never run on autopilot, to always stay passionate and interested.”

要了解更多关于荣誉卡罗莱纳计划，请访问 honorscarolina.kuyax.net. To learn more about supporting scholarships for Carolina students, visit 卡罗莱纳大学奖学金.