Curious@Carolina questions what we’ve all been told and what we’ve always thought we’ve known. We’re five Carolina girls who write our own perspectives on the facts, whether those facts are focused on the natural sciences, behavioral sciences, or the humanities. By no means do we have all the answers, but we do present our opinions based on thorough research and hard work. We hope that writing these blog posts will spark questions in you, our curious peers, and lead you to start formulating your own opinions on a variety of topics ranging from current controversies in the natural sciences to the role of artwork in history. We are Curious@Carolina, and we can’t wait to start this journey of questioning with you.
I was born and raised in the epitome of a small town in New London, North Carolina, and for as far back as I can remember, I wanted to get away. This longing for departure didn’t come from a dislike of my hometown; instead, it was born out of a desire to discover something new. From the time I could first walk, I’ve been on the move-- at least that’s what my parents tell me. Whether getting too close to the edge on one of our hiking trips or flying over the handlebars of my bike when I was five, I’ve been pushing the limits. This desire to go to new places and to try new things has led me to where I am today. As a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I am looking forward to stepping out of my comfort zone and embracing a new way of life. I am Hanna Eudy, and I can’t wait to usher you along this journey with me.
When I was twelve years old, I went to a Hall and Oates concert - a band many of you probably don’t know because they were famous about thirty or forty years ago. I was surrounded by middle-aged men and women, and I didn’t recognize any of the songs. But I took a liking to the music that was at the time foreign to me, and I learned something new about myself and about the world. At that moment, I realized how much there is that I have yet to discover. Since then, my interest in the unknown has grown, and I’ve wanted to learn as much I can about the world- whether that concerns music, science, art, or basically anything else. My curiosity sprouted from this experience and has grown ever since, eventually bringing me all the way to Chapel Hill to be a student at the University of North Carolina. I picked up my life in South Florida to move here, and within the first months of my freshman year, I have already experienced and learned more than I could have imagined. My name is Jenny Stein, and although I have broadened my mind already, I haven’t yet quenched my thirst for knowledge. But what I do know: I plan on sharing this journey with all of you.
As a child, it was not uncommon for me to throw on my ballet costume and give an impromptu performance for my mother’s friends at dinner parties. Or to hide under the façade of “getting lost” at museums so that I could run away from my parents and continue to explore long after my allotted time. Or to create finger-print Picasso’s on my white bedroom walls. Although time-outs were inevitable, I have chalked my mischievous deeds up to creativity and curiosity rather than rebellion. Luckily, as I have matured I have been able to channel these qualities into more productive outlets: securing the Valedictorian position at my high school, witnessing my self-made public service announcement on MTV, and creating an ad campaign for a national insurance provider, to name a few. A freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I continue to this day to ask millions of questions and delve into my identity as I seek out answers. This blog is yet another canvas for my inner five-year old to mark up and decorate, an experiment of sorts. I am Kate Eastman, and I invite you to join in my exploration.
According to Korean tradition, on a child’s first birthday, he or she chooses an object from a pile of indiscriminate items, and in turn, that object foretells the child’s future. When I turned one-year old, I chose the pencil, which heralds the birth of a writer. From that day, my relationship with writing began. Today at eighteen years of age and a college student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I continue to love writing. Throughout my high school years, I used my passion for writing to become an integral part of the newspaper, literary magazine, and creative writing clubs. I write to understand the world around me as well as to uncover what is fundamental about myself through the fictional prose and creative nonfiction that I write. I use my writing to discover how divergent perspectives on one event can create entirely different end products. I ask myself: how does my background as an Asian-American change how I think? Does my gender shift my perspective? Does my personal religious background create barriers or destroy them? In my blog posts, I attempt to use this multifaceted approach to craft my own opinions while leaving room for debate and more importantly, questions. My name is Sarah Molina, and I am excited to start this journey of storytelling and questioning with you.
I was born and raised on the coast of North Carolina in a small town called Morehead City. Morehead is known for about two things, seafood restaurants and tourists. There are two things in this world that I do not like, which ironically happen to be seafood restaurants and tourists. This being said, I have spent almost all of my life laying on the beach reading a book or playing in the water from sunrise to sunset, waiting for the day that I could get out of town. This day came for me about a month ago, and I now reside in the beautiful town of Chapel Hill while attending the University of North Carolina. Since I was eight years old my dream in life has always to be an orthodontist. I got braces when I was that age and became fascinated with the profession. I pulled out five of my best friends teeth in the bathroom during grade school, and consequently spent one day of recess inside because it was considered “unsatisfactory” to the Catholic school I attended. Ten years later and now studying Business, my plans are still the same to go to dental school after I obtain my undergraduate degree. Most days you can find me trying to keep up with technology, blogging on Tumblr, or updating my twitter. I can make 3 minute macaroni in just 2 minutes and 30 seconds, overuse my texting data plan, and can sleep for twenty hours straight (my personal record). I love learning new things especially when I can then share what I learned with someone else. My name is Mary-Kendall Riggs, and I hope you read along with me so I can pass on some of this new knowledge to you.
