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Meet our Tar Heels

“It’s a great day to be a Tar Heel” is a phrase you’ll often hear around Carolina, and for a good reason.

Every day, Tar Heels create a positive impact on the world by improving their communities and inspiring change through their talents. They’re artists, scientists, humanitarians, researchers and innovators doing extraordinary things.

Meet some of our students and alumni to find out why every day really is a great day to be a Tar Heel.

Students walking on campus.

Campus life creators

  • Spencer Devine

    Club flag football: Spencer Devine

    Football was the biggest part of Spencer Devine’s life growing up. After high school, when most football players call it quits, Devine wasn’t looking to let it go. He has continued to keep his connection to football over the past three years as a member of Carolina’s competitive flag football club, which competes against teams from other North Carolina colleges and at regional tournaments.

  • Reghan Flores and Tala Farah sit at a table with cards on it.

    Letters from Rameses: Tala Farah and Reghan Flores

    When they're not studying or in class, Tala Farah and Reghan Flores enjoy volunteering in the community. When those options were cut off in the early days of the pandemic, they turned to an old medium: letter writing. That experience led to the founding of Letters from Rameses, a new student group that organizes students to write cards and letters for patients in the hospital.

  • Roland Martin listening to headphones.

    WXYC: Roland Martin

    After he first toured Carolina's WXYC radio studio, Roland Martin knew exactly where he was meant to be. He has spent his past three years as a Tar Heel hosting a show, exploring new music and finding his voice on the air. Martin is now the station’s music director, bringing that passion to more DJs.

  • Selina Shi standing outside.

    Asian American Center: Selina Shi

    During her first few weeks at Carolina, Selina Shi was struck by the stark difference between Asian American representation in Chapel Hill and her hometown. She didn’t feel entirely part of the student body she had just joined. As an active member of the UNC Asian American Center, she has been working to ensure future generations of Asian American Tar Heels don’t experience that same feeling.

  • Sarah Torzone pulls medical supplies out of a blue crate.

    UNC Campus EMS: Sarah Torzone and Ishan Khosla

    UNC Campus EMS co-directors Sarah Torzone and Ishan Khosla have always known they wanted to be doctors and got a head start as teenagers by becoming certified EMTs. They've brought their passion to Carolina to launch UNC Campus EMS to care for the community while also preparing other Tar Heel EMTs for futures in medical careers.

  • Ashley Dos Santos in the makerspace.

    Be a Maker Network: Ashley Dos Santos

    Senior Ashley Dos Santos knew that Carolina's makerspaces were where she belonged even before she was officially a Tar Heel. Now an active member in the Be A Maker Network, she's working to bring the world of making to more students.

Budding researchers

At Carolina, research isn't reserved just for faculty members and graduate students. Our undergraduates are leading their own projects.

They're working alongside world-class researchers to find answers to some of the world's most challenging questions and they're honing their skills to take on bigger problems in the future.

Learn how our budding researchers are working in the lab and in the field to accelerate Carolina's research enterprise

  • This summer, Andrew Buchanan and Owen Ryerson made the arduous trek to the Arrigetch Peaks in remote Alaska to collect rock samples for an independent research project that aims to answer big questions about the mountains.

    Learn more Andrew's and Owen's project
  • Madyson Barber outside.

    There are currently more than 4,000 identified exoplanets, and senior Madyson Barber is searching for more. She recently became one of two Carolina undergrads to be named an NC Space Grant Undergraduate Research Scholar.

    Read more about Madyson's research
  • Nihar Mahon outside

    Carolina junior Nihar Vaidya is combining his majors of computer science and statistics and analytics to predict when patients may encounter seizures caused by epilepsy.

    Read a Q&A with Nihar

Alumni in the world

  • Marisa sitting on the of NBC Sports

    Journalist: Marisa Rauwald

    A huge sports fan, Marisa Rauwald wanted to be near the action. That’s what brought the Durham native to Carolina and the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media in the first place. Since earning her degree in May 2020, Rauwald has been a part of some of the world's biggest sporting events as a staff member of NBC Sports.

  • Tim walker in his classroom.

    High School Teacher: Tim Walker

    Tim Walker has known he wanted to be a teacher since he was a kid. After earning his bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Carolina in 2017, followed by a Master of Arts in Teaching at the UNC School of Education in 2018, Walker has accomplished that goal. He now teaches social studies at Carrboro High School, a job he finds immensely rewarding.

  • Clare MacDonald in a graduation cap ang gown

    Product Designer: Clare MacDonald

    When Clare MacDonald ’19 came to Carolina in the fall of 2015, she didn’t know what she wanted to major in. She had no idea what shape her future career would take. Now, as a product designer at LinkedIn, MacDonald has not only charted a successful career path for herself — she’s helping others do the same.

  • Tyrell Carter standing outside.

    Entrepreneur: Tyrell Carter

    Tyrell Carter '21 got his first taste of entrepreneurship when he was in fifth grade and he was homeless and was selling bookmarks at school. He remembers sitting at the corner of the street in his hoodie and khaki shorts and thinking, “I’m going to be the greatest who ever lived.” He's now the the founder and CEO of his own company.