Name: Clay Hackney
Hometown: Gastonia, NC
Year: 2015
Major: Economics/Asian Studies
Relationship Status: In a Relationship
Favorite Yopo Flavor: Southern Strawberry, because it’s somehow different than regular Strawberry.
What are you passionate about: Working to better include typically excluded groups in economic life. Oh and Cosmic veggie burritos. They’re seriously life changing.
Favorite Study Spot: I’m in a long-term relationship with second floor Davis.
Fun Fact: I’ve known how to unicycle since I was nine.
Favorite Place to Travel: The Appalachian mountains – it reminds me of fall camping trips with my dad.
Motto: Don’t get bitter, just get better. *Finger snap*
Listen up, Carolina: you’ve got about 3.5 semesters left to befriend Clay Hackney so don’t waste it. To meet Clay, you should look in the following places: at any of the Carolina China Network events, in the Econ department doing research, or biking around campus. If you can’t find him there, he’s probably busy at the Community Empowerment Fund, which helps those who are transitioning out of poverty and homelessness to gain employment. And his selflessness doesn’t stop there: two summers ago Clay worked at a school and community center in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. While there, Clay taught English to second graders, helped mothers with their financial literacy skills, and assisted in the creation of a savings program to help open small businesses.
Most recently, Clay spent a semester abroad in Beijing (can you tell he loves to travel?) volunteering as a mentor and English teacher to a child of migrant parents and, of course, learning some traditional Chinese games along the way. Don’t you want to be Clay’s best friend? And I haven’t even mentioned his awesome sense of humor, good-natured personality, or cool hipster glasses. Clay is the kind of guy who makes friends anywhere he goes because after speaking to him for five minutes, you feel like you’ve known him forever. Seriously, the first time I met Clay, we ended up making a fort on the couch like it was the most casual thing in the world. Running into Clay on campus never fails to put a smile on my face and I think he is the perfect embodiment of what a Campus Cutie should be. Oh, and he loves jazz music, so you just know he’s classy.