Three years ago, I was offered the Levine Scholarship to UNC Charlotte. I was thrilled, grateful, and humbled, but also… worried. My whole life, I’d been working towards the goal of a college scholarship. It was the end objective that drove every difficult decision, weighing each choi
On Saturday morning, March 24, I joined 7 freshman Levine Scholars, 7,000 Charlotteans, and millions worldwide to march for increased regulation and restrictions on firearms. The March for Our Lives spanned 800 cities, the largest student-led protest since the Vietnam War.
Two seniors, two juniors, four sophomores, and six freshmen: as I looked at the crowd of scholars chatting with anticipation outside of Levine Hall, I felt excited to get to know them more deeply through the alternative service break to Roanoke, Virginia with Habitat for Humanity.
One year ago, when I was walking into Levine Hall as a nervous finalist, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t really know a lot about UNC Charlotte, or even the Levine Scholars Program, I just knew I was going to do an interview for a big scholarship and then go home to make up all the homework I had missed.
When I came to UNC Charlotte I knew that upon graduating I wanted to go to law school. I declared a major in political science and during my second semester took the introductory course for the legal studies minor.
Though the holiday season has passed, it is most definitely not forgotten! Despite the many opportunities I’ve been given recently that I could write about, the most exciting one to date was seeing The Nutcracker with my fellow Scholars.
“Good Afternoon Levine Children’s Hospital, DJ Dani here live in Seacrest Studios and today during Weather World we’re talking about thunderstorms!” This is how I get to start my day twice a week at Levine Children’s Hospital (LCH) in Uptown Charlotte.
As I desperately clung to the waist of a man I had met 5 minutes prior on the back of a motorcycle climbing a dirt road ascending a mountain to a women’s farm in the Nepali Himalayas with a backpack that had nothing in it but a watermelon, I had to ask myself: how did I get here?
From what I remember being a senior in high school attending Finalists’ Weekend, the part of the Levine Scholarship that the (interviewing high school seniors) students were least focused on was the civic engagement grant.
Harris Teeter. Cookout. Bojangles. Before coming to Charlotte, I had never heard of such fine establishments. Even with the lack of Publix grocery stores in the area, moving from southwestern Florida to Charlotte has been an extremely smooth transition. The Charlotte area has quickly become like a home to me. The October weather has been nothing short of wonderful.
Early in my freshman year, a mass email fat with opportunity plopped into my inbox. UNC Charlotte’s psychology department was advertising a summer internship researching cognition - in dolphins! I preemptively opened the application knowing that in the not-so-distant future I would be pursuing a pre-professional internship through the Levine Scholars Program.
Here’s some background about me: I am the first and only daughter with two younger brothers and I am from a small rural town in the foothills of North Carolina. Now, I would like you to take a moment and imagine my parents’ reactions when I said the following sentence; “Mom? Dad?
Nothing is better than seeing people's reactions when I tell them that yes, I am a Levine Scholar but yes, I am also a dance major. Some people are intrigued, some are confused, and most think that I am going to open my own dance studio (I'm not). Choosing to be a dance major seemed obvious to me, as I have danced all my life.
On Saturday, January 21, 2017, I took to the streets of Washington, D.C. with anywhere between five hundred thousand and one million marchers as part of the Women's March on Washington. Caroline Fowle, Addy Goff, and I carpooled together on Thursday evening to prepare for and attend the march.
This year’s finalist weekend was a success. Being a freshman, seeing the other side of the program was beneficial to me, as I was able to witness the logistics that went into the production as a whole, and gave clarity to some of the questions that I filed away last year.
It’s Friday, November 4th. 6:58 pm. UNC Charlotte students and their friends from Levine Children’s Hospital are lined up side by side, decked out in beads, tu-tus and other festive attire to represent their color group, preparing to dash up the steps of the Popp Martin Student Union to kick off one of the most exciting events of the year: Dance Marathon.
Over the course of the last four years, UNC Charlotte has become my home away from home. The Levine Scholars Program has provided me with a support system resembling a family, with fellow scholars becoming more like siblings than classmates, and faculty members looking out for me both in and out of the classroom.
