“What is my purpose?” Some people spend their entire lives searching for the answer to this question, and some people discover the answer early in life. Purpose is found in many different ways, and one way is through moments of inspiration. These moments act like matches in the dark that light the path to our futures. The following UNC first years have already found their matches in the dark and are currently pursuing majors or minors that define who they are.
Grace Miller, ’21: the Classics Major
Grace Miller really likes Greek Mythology and has a vested interest in history, and those moments inspired her to pursue a major in the Classics department, which focuses on Ancient Greek and Latin. When asked about the exact moment she knew she wanted to pursue this major, she replied, “in high school, we had to complete a project where we had to look up what colleges we wanted to go to, and what majors we wanted to study. So, I typed in ‘ancient Greek UNC,’ and I discovered the Classics department. I was like ‘wow’. So, I looked more into it, and I saw that they did a lot of studies on ancient civilizations, the structures/mythology of them, and what it would be like to be a minority in Greek Mythology. When I finally came to UNC, I took some courses here to see if Classics was something I really wanted to do, and I had a lot of fun in the courses I took.”
Miller hopes to become a Classics professor, and is currently interested in exploring the effects that Roman culture had on Egyptian culture after the Romans conquered Egypt.
Sage Snider, ’21: the Biology Major
Sage Snider decided to become a Biology major because she really loves animals. For Snider, it’s always been a passion to learn about the way organisms behave. She’s wanted to pursue Biology since she was a child, and she has never wavered from her path.
In the future, Snider hopes to “do research with different types of animals in order to study and learn more about them.”
Selena Kongmany, ’21: the Sociology Major
Selena Kongmany has an amazing source of inspiration for her major: her little sister! She says, “the person who inspired me to pursue my major was my little sister, Sabrina. I basically took on the role of her mother while she was growing up, and I discovered that I really liked working with kids.” Selena had originally tried out Economics before realizing that the major was not for her, proving that it’s more than okay to not have everything figured out!
Kongmany wants to someday work as a social worker, helping children who live in abusive homes and providing children “with safe and nurturing households that they can go home to every day.”
These amazing young women are pursuing majors they love at UNC, and are currently walking down the path toward their desired futures. Moments of inspiration come in a variety of sources. If you are having trouble deciding what you want to study, don’t worry! Just take a minute to reflect back on moments in your life that inspired you, and go from there.