Just 32 miles from Chapel Hill, six-square mile Siler City is home to Central Carolina Community College, Chatham Hospital, poultry processing businesses and a weekly newspaper.
It is also the hometown of junior Daisey Samayoa, who says many of the 7,702 people there look like her. An influx of immigrants in the 1990s made the town bigger and 51% Latino.
Editor’s note: Tar Heels come from communities of all sizes, some of them tiny. In the Small Town Spotlight series, Carolina students share photos of meaningful places and people back home.
Samayoa majors in human development family science in the UNC School of Education. A recipient of a Johnston scholarship and a Carolina Covenant scholar, she is in the Honors Carolina program. She is a mentor and does community service through Latinas Promoviendo Comunidad/Lambda Pi Chi Sorority Inc. and studies at the Carolina Latinx Center. She’s also a lead student ambassador at the University Office for Diversity and Inclusion.
In high school, Samayoa attended an Upward Bound program here but didn’t think about attending Carolina. “I didn’t want to put expectations on myself,” she said. But after teachers and mentors encouraged her to apply to bigger schools, she shook off her doubts about being a first-generation, low-income student. She applied to nine universities and got several full-tuition scholarship offers.
Below, Samayoa shares photos and thoughts about her hometown.
This is a mural downtown that’s been there a minute. Siler City is really diverse, but I see a lot of faces that look like mine. Because of that, I felt supported going to Siler City’s schools.
My father and mother met in Siler City. He is Guatemalan. She is Mexican. They instilled in me and my siblings the desire to attend college, always offering support in every aspect of our education. Some of my high school peers had parents who did not care for college and wanted them to immediately work after school to financially support their families, but my parents were the complete opposite. They prioritize our education. Their endless encouragement, sacrifices and firm belief in education paved the way for my academic success.
This is on old 421 North entering town. A lot of students here want to go to college, and many are coming to UNC, so that motivation is there. Siler City really is “small town, big dreams.” You might not want to stay, but you always want to return.
This is Selina Lopez, a UNC graduate who works at El Vinculo, a nonprofit, and Jose Martinez, who graduated from Jordan-Matthews High School with me and attends Davidson College. Selina started a youth program called Orgullo Latinx Pride that I joined. Selina influenced my life, guiding me through the process. Growing up, I knew I wanted to go to college. I did not know what that meant or looked like. Mentorship was definitely the biggest reason why I’m at Carolina.
The Chatham Rabbit is a coffee shop. It’s really a nice spot. A lot of students hang out there. Rabbits are a common theme for Siler City, because back in the day it was the main trade in Chatham County. It’s about three minutes from my house.
This is the main part of downtown at North Chatham Avenue and Second Street. There’s a park, shops, a bakery, the Chatham Rabbit and arts organizations nearby. I spent a lot of time downtown, sometimes walking around, although there weren’t many stores. I looked forward to festivals that occurred downtown like the annual Hispanic Heritage Fiesta hosted by El Vinculo Hispano and Spring Chicken Festival by Mountaire Farms.