Blog

I was sitting in my second Organic Chemistry II class, failing to comprehend anything, when I had an epiphany: I wasn’t happy.

As May approaches, signaling the end of my undergraduate studies as a Levine Scholar at UNC Charlotte, I am simultaneously struck by overwhelming gratitude for my experience here as well as my responsibility for the gift I have been given.

My journey as a Levine Scholar began with a meeting at the beginning of my senior year of high school with my college counselor, Mr. Yager. During our meeting, I was explaining to Mr. Yager that I was set on staying in Puerto Rico for my undergraduate career.

I have many friends in my life, but I’d like to tell you about my very best friend. Her name is Claudia. She can be a bit needy at times, constantly looking to hang out with me and loathing when I have to leave.

With COVID-19, I had no idea what this fall semester would look like. There was so much uncertainty with a pandemic underway, and this was to be my first year no less. Still, I was thrilled at the opportunity to be on campus, which I saw as the beginning of my life independent of my parents.

Before the pandemic started, I had plans to spend the fall semester of my senior year in Taipei, Taiwan, studying in an intensive Chinese language program. I was only five when I moved from Taiwan to North Carolina with my mom and sister, returning during the summer every one or two years to visit my dad.

When I was a freshman, as many are fated to do, I found myself sampling the pot of extracurriculars that life on campus afforded me. In my cohort (‘21), and the Levine Scholars Program as a whole, it’s almost impossible to not be friends with a biology major so when my friends mentioned tree-planting for extra credit in one of their biology courses and an opportunity for volunteer hours I tagged along to breathe some fresh air and muddy my hands a bit.

Scholars volunteering to cook meals at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) of Charlotte is an enduring tradition for the LSP.

This past summer, the principal investigator (PI) of the chemistry research lab in which I have worked since my freshman year—Dr. Markus Etzkorn—was awarded a Moissan Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) by the ACS Division of Chemistry fluorine division. Through this grant—which provides funding in the form of a $4,000 stipend for an undergraduate student to carry out research in fluorine chemistry—I was able to carry out a research project in the field of organofluorine chemistry.

I spent my Nonprofit Internship summer with Catawba Lands Conservancy (CLC), a Charlotte-area land trust. Each day in the internship brought unique adventures; I wrangled goats in heat, cursed at kudzu while attempting to eradicate the invasive plant, and learned about stewardship’s role in the Charlotte region and beyond.