UNCG School of Nursing Receives $2.4 Million Award
Posted on June 27, 2024
Class of 2025 Coating Ceremony.
The UNC Greensboro School of Nursing has received $2,420,118 to expand and enroll more nursing students. The funding, allocated from the UNC System Office, is part of the legislature’s efforts to increase nursing degree completions by at least 50 percent.
“We welcome, and appreciate, the opportunity to educate more nurses to meet the needs of North Carolina,” said Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. “Our School of Nursing has long been ranked as a leader in the state and nationally, and this investment in our faculty, clinical partnerships, and facilities will further enhance the student experience as we prepare the next generation of nurses.”
The School of Nursing anticipates expanding enrollment in the bachelor of science nursing program by over 50 percent in two years. In addition to increases in the pre-licensure BSN program, the School’s new prelicensure master’s of science in nursing program is anticipated to welcome another 70 students during that same time. The SON anticipates starting the new program and enrollment in January 2025, pending NC Board of Nursing approval.
“With this anticipated enrollment of new students, the funding will also help us recruit and retain as many as 18 world renowned nursing faculty right here in Greensboro,” said UNCG School of Nursing Dean Debra Barksdale. “Academic advisors, coaches and other student support positions will also be hired to assist these new students earn their degrees in a timely fashion.”
In May 2024, the UNCG School of Nursing graduated 241 undergraduates and 74 graduate-level nursing students.
Photography by Sean Norona and Martin W. Kane, University Communications
A mid-week Independence Day holiday doesn’t make for an easy vacation escape, but never mind. All you need to have a fun Fourth of July is right here in Greensboro. Follow these tips for a complete celebration without leaving the city limits.
Immerse Yourself in Local History
Statue of Nathaniel Greene in downtown Greensboro.
On the defining Fourth of July in 1776, the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence that established the United States of America. But without winning the Revolutionary War that followed, the declaration was only a document of intent. Many historians believe that without the rebel army’s strong showing at the Guilford Courthouse in 1781, the scrappy Americans would have never defeated the powerful and influential British army.
A stroll through the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park gives a glimpse of the colonists’ struggle for independence from British rule. Learn how General Nathaniel Greene’s strategy made the most of his army’s numbers and ensured that their supplies wouldn’t be threatened by British occupations.
Greensboro is not only proud of its role in American independence, but also of its later role in the civil rights movement. For a true picture of the American journey for freedom, pair a visit to the Guilford Courthouse with the International Civil Rights Museum downtown and imagine the courage of North Carolinians who stood up or sat in for freedom.
Let Freedom Ring
Downtown Greensboro’s annual Fun Fourth Festival includes a Freedom Run and a street festival along Elm Street. UNC Greensboro is a sponsor of the event. Whether your vibe is sporty, artsy or foodie, the Fun Fourth activities downtown on July 4 are sure to please.
For those who like to celebrate their independence with a morning jog, the Freedom Run starts and ends at Center City Park and winds through the streets of the historic Fisher Park neighborhood. Runners, walkers, and strollers of all abilities are welcome to sign up. The 10K begins at 7:30 a.m. with the 5K at 8 a.m. and the one-mile fun run at 8:30 a.m.
Later in the afternoon, those who prefer to celebrate with art and music should get downtown between 1:00 and 6:00 p.m. when Elm Street is full of art and food vendors, and stages rocking with live music. Freedom Fest is free and open to the public. After nightfall, the city’s fireworks display will follow the Greensboro Grasshoppers’ game.
Catch a Game
While you’re downtown, snag a ticket to the Grasshoppers’ game and enjoy America’s favorite pastime followed by spectacular fireworks. What’s more American than that?
The Greensboro Grasshoppers play baseball all summer at First National Bank Stadium. It’s a beautiful stadium perfectly positioned in downtown Greensboro where spectators can take in views of our skyline while they watch the game. The team is hoping to be playoff bound after winning the first half of their season, so the stakes are high. Tickets for the 6:30 p.m. July 4th game versus the Aberdeen IronBirds are going fast, so book ahead of time to guarantee your best seat in the house for the post-game firework show.
If you want to start your U-S-A cheerleading early, consider getting tickets for the International Friendship Series game at First National Bank Stadium on July 2. Organized by USA Baseball, this is the fourth in a five-game series between the collegiate national teams from USA and Chinese Taipei that is sure to heighten your patriotic vibes in time for the holiday.
Photos by Jiyoung Park.
Hot off the Grill
Photo by Jenn Smith.
Whether you’re touring a battlefield, catching a game, running a 5K, or strolling through a street festival, all this activity will surely work up an appetite. Didn’t get an invite to a Fourth of July barbecue? Who needs one in a city like Greensboro where there’s a great burger on every corner of town?
Pair a juicy burger with a Guilford Golden Ale at the restaurant and brewery named for our favorite freedom fighter, Natty Greene, on Elm Street. Natty Greene’s new beer garden is the perfect place to gather with friends before the fireworks. Owner and Spartan alum Chris Lester is excited about the garden’s aesthetic for downtown Greensboro diners and how the space will double their beer production. “This expansion enables us to bring all of our production in house to give us more control and be more self-sustaining,” he says.
Hops Burger Bar is another popular burger destination with its unique toppings and famous “Wall of Fries”. Go classic or try goat cheese, Carolina pulled pork, or bourbon marinated pickles on your choice of an Angus beef, turkey, chicken, tuna, or bison burger. Or you can show your Spartan spirit and go for the “College Hill Blues” with blue cheese, onions, mushrooms and spinach. Hops has been mentioned on several foodie lists for the best burgers in the state. Visit their Battleground Avenue or Spring Garden Street locations and decide for yourself.
For some, Fourth of July just isn’t complete without a good ol’ American hot dog. Luckily, you can find options any time of day in Greensboro. Right in the middle of UNCG’s campus, Yum-Yum Better Ice Cream and Hot Dogs is a classic lunch choice for hot dogs and homemade ice cream. It’s been serving hungry coeds since 1906.
But if you’re looking for an option after the fireworks display, try Neighbors Neighborhood Bar, just around the corner from the Grasshopper’s’ First National Bank Stadium on Simpson Street. Opening just last summer, its grill takes orders until 2 a.m. and serves a range of sandwiches including Chicago, Jersey and Carolina inspired dogs, along with craft cocktails.
From history and tradition to fireworks and food, Greensboro has all you need to feel free – and full – this Fourth. Take a Spartan staycation and find all the holiday fun you’re looking for right here at the G.
Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications. Photography by Sean Norona, unless otherwise noted.
UNCG Cuts Down on Wait Times for Rural Health Care
Posted on June 28, 2024
Catlin Torres ’23 works at the Belmont Medical Associates clinic, courtesy of an AmeriCorps MedServe fellowship.
Students who graduate with health degrees from UNC Greensboro will find their skills in high demand. The need for health care is felt in all areas of the United States, but there are many communities that routinely find themselves underserved.
It’s a need that Catlin Torres ’23 is answering since completing her bachelor of science in biology with a minor in chemistry at UNCG. She was accepted into the 2023-2025 AmeriCorps MedServe fellowship to work at Belmont Medical Associates in Reidsville, North Carolina, not far from her hometown in Rockingham County.
“I’ve always just been interested in becoming a primary care provider, and I would like to serve in areas where they are needed,” says Torres.
While the small private practice sees patients from across Rockingham County, others drive from Guilford County (30 minutes away), Alamance County (45 minutes), and the city of Lexington (an hour).
“Some people make the drive from out of state,” says Torres. “And some people moved for retirement, but they like to come back to their primary doctor. Our patients are spread all over.”
Problems Finding Providers
A lack of health care options has been a troubling trend for rural and remote areas of the United States. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), more than 100 rural hospitals, or four percent, closed across the United States between 2013 and 2020. Six of those were in North Carolina.
Torres witnessed the pressure it puts on rural patients when a neurology office in Reidsville closed, impacting many of Belmont’s patients who need pain management. “We had to start referring patients to Greensboro or different areas,” she says. “A lot of our patients are older. They can’t drive that far or it’s harder for them to find transportation.”
Torres (front row, second from left) and the Belmont Medical Associates staff in Reidsville.
The GAO report found that Medicare Free-For-Service beneficiaries living in areas where rural hospitals closed were less likely to be healthy, with higher instances of conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and depression.
The issue affects all regions of the state – mountains, coast, and Piedmont. “In North Carolina, 72 of the 100 counties are rural or have some aspect of their county that is rural,” says Dr. Audrey Snyder. The professor and associate dean for community engagement and academic partnerships in the School of Nursing has spent many years researching and advocating for health care access worldwide.
Snyder says children from smaller communities may grow up with fewer role models in health care professions to inspire and encourage them while attaining such a challenging degree. “There’s a higher percentage of our rural residing prospective students who are first generation college students,” she says.
Even for those who do pursue a career in health, Snyder says workers are more inclined to stay where there are ample resources and an extensive peer network, which tend to be in cities. Greensboro alone has three major institutions: Cone, Novant, and Atrium Health.
“Let’s say you’re a family nurse practitioner who practices in a rural community,” says Snyder. “You don’t have a lot of backup. You can’t just walk into the next room and ask questions or have a person you can call for support.”
Cost is also an issue, says Torres. “A lot of the people in my cohort have to look for places to live. And we live on a stipend, which has to stretch for housing costs.”
Building a Network for Providers
Students who come to UNCG from rural communities may qualify for federal financial aid specifically intended to cultivate a new generation of providers who will take those skills back home after graduation. Torres was part of Guarantee Scholars, a flagship program to build a cohort community while minimizing student debt for its members.
In the College of Arts and Sciences, students like Torres lay the groundwork as undergraduates in biology and chemistry, making them highly attractive to competitive professional graduate school programs. Torres took the pre-physician assistant track, which sets up students with advisors who help tailor their undergraduate coursework in preparation for a professional school.
She first heard about MedServe at an information session hosted by UNCG and later connected with its executive director, Amanda Gallina. “With graduation coming up, I had a lot on my plate,” says Torres. “But she sent an email asking if I wanted to talk about the opportunities that they had. She told me they were looking for someone for Belmont, and that it seemed like the right fit for me.”
Along with on-site experience, MedServe lets Torres attend skill summits at hospitals, learning alongside other fellows in the program. “It’s just a really great program where you can build a community of people doing the same thing,” she says.
Torres (left) attended a skills summit for AmeriCorps MedServe fellows in Winston-Salem.
UNCG Bridges the Gap
Health care institutions and universities like UNCG are working on solving health care disparities – from utilizing the growing popularity of telehealth to forging partnerships between rural practices and urban medical centers.
The many health-related programs in UNCG’s Schools and Colleges cater to each student’s strengths and previous experience, preparing new caregivers and specialists. Torres’ pre-PA track is just one of ten pre-professional tracks, with others for aspiring nurses, doctors, therapists, pharmacists, veterinarians, and dentists.
“We’re trying to increase the number of students coming from those rural areas and provide support in their programs, whether it’s a BSN or a nurse practitioner degree, so they can go on and get an advanced degree,” says Snyder. “We hope that by giving them experiences in rural and underserved areas, they may want to work in one of those areas when they graduate.”
Dr. Audrey Snyder and the School of Nursing launched the Minerva Mobile Health Unit in August 2023 to deliver UNCG students and faculty nurse practitioners straight to underserved communities. “Mobile health care is a wave of the future, getting access to people where they live, where they work, where they go to school,” says Snyder.
As Torres begins her second year of the fellowship and gets ready to apply for graduate school, one experience with the physician’s assistant at Belmont stood out to her. “An older Hispanic woman who spoke minimal English came in,” she says. “The PA took her time and brought me in to translate. She was very descriptive. She wanted to make sure this woman knew what was going on.”
Torres hopes to bring that type of compassionate care to more people. “I’m definitely seeing that need for new providers who will deliver various services for rural communities,” she says.
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications Photography courtesy of Catlin Torres, Belmont Medical Associates Additional photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
Connect your major with one of ten pre-professional tracks.
2024 UNCG Research Magazine is Now Available Online
Posted on June 26, 2024
An ambitious obesity study following kids from the womb to preschool, the art of Disney, social entrepreneurship improving lives across NC, cosmodernism, and chiggers and ticks and sand flies (oh my!). Explore our wide-ranging impact in the 2024 issue of UNCG Research magazine.
Emilia Phillips at their book reading for "Nonbinary Bird of Paradise" at Scuppernong Books.
On a dreary Thursday night in February, a group gathered at Scuppernong Books in downtown Greensboro for a reading of a new collection of poetry by Emilia Phillips. Phillips had just released their fifth collection of poetry, entitled “Nonbinary Bird of Paradise,” but this was no typical book reading.
Phillips gathered UNCG students and alumni to read original works and selected text that inspired their latest poems. All in attendance raved about how the reading was a celebration of voices and art and the flow of inspiration. For Phillips, all of this is intertwined.
An Artist Spreads Their Wings
A UNCG professor since 2017, Phillips is an associate professor of creative writing where they teach poetry workshops and serve as core poetry faculty for the Masters of Fine Art in Creative Writing. Phillips also has cross-appointments in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and English departments teaching the Queer Poetry and Poetics class and the Women’s Health and Bodies class to undergraduates.
Being a poet, a teacher, and a voice for the LGBTQIA+ community is all part of the creative process for Phillips. “I can’t teach poetry unless I’m writing it and vice versa,” she says. “My constant dialogue with students informs my work.”
“Nonbinary Bird of Paradise” is a prime example of Phillips’ exploratory style of poetry, but this latest collection focuses on gender and the ways cultural, religious and mythological narratives support heterosexuality as “the norm”.
In “Nonbinary Bird of Paradise,” Phillips’ challenge of compulsory heterosexuality cuts right to the chase. The first section includes twelve poems in the voice of Eve from the Bible. It imagines if Eve wasn’t born straight and was never desiring of Adam but had no other choices of partners.
“My writing is definitely informed by my own worldview, experience, gender journey and sexuality,” says Phillips, who was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. “I couldn’t have written the Eve sequence without getting to a certain point of my own reflections and self-work, but I was nervous when the book came out because it does deal so explicitly with sex and gender and sexuality.”
The poem that inspired the book’s title is also extremely personal. “It’s a love poem for my partner,” Phillips explains. “I imagined if I was a bird of paradise, how would I woo my partner without the fancy plumage.”
Phillips admits that most of their poetry is part autobiographical and part creative, but its fiction label opens doors for creative freedom, a principle they encourage in the classroom as well.
Birds of a Feather Writing Together
Phillips’ classes provide a safe space for building art and students appreciate the sense of community they find at UNCG’s English department.
“Emilia prioritizes community not only in the classroom but outside of it too,” second-year MFA student Liz Bruce explains. “We are constantly sharing resources and opportunities and celebrating each other.”
Kay Zeiss read an original poem at the “Nonbinary Bird of Paradise” book reading.
Recent MFA graduate Kay Zeiss is a private practice therapist working with adults who have experienced trauma. They are particularly dialed into using writing to process trauma. Self-identifying as genderqueer and nonbinary, Zeiss was particularly interested in working under Phillips’ mentorship and thrived in the department.
“My goal isn’t to become this famous writer,” Zeiss confesses. “I just hope my writing can be of service to someone. Folks are really interested in being able to articulate their experience and find language for something that they didn’t have before. There’s a community and compassion there that I want to help facilitate.”
Attracting creative minds like this to UNCG is exactly what Phillips had in mind when they joined the English department in 2017. Establishing a close-knit community within a larger campus community, which serves minorities and has historically been a safe place for LGBTQIA+ youth, provided the perfect environment for Phillips’ poetry to take root.
“Having representation in the classroom and also having representation in my work out in the world is very important to me,” Phillips says.
Artistic Reflections
This high regard for representation and community made it natural for Phillips to invite students to share inspirational text at their book reading. “My students are among the most important people in my life,” they said. “Including them made it really festive.”
“I’ve been to multiple readings at Scuppernong and this one was definitely different in that there was a huge crowd of people there to celebrate,” said Bruce, who read “[Poem about Naomi; unsent]” by Rachel Mennies at Phillips’ book reading.
Zeiss read an original poem publicly for the first time at Phillips’ reading. “Hymnal to Transqueer Futures” reflects on grief following the death of Nex Benedict and ponders hope for the future of nonbinary and transqueer children. Zeiss dedicated it to Maddie Poole, another writer in attendance. “I was so honored to be a part of this group,” they said. “It was very tender and sweet to have other people in the MFA program that I care about in this line-up of incredible poets. Reading my poem felt like an offering to the community.”
Liz Bruce reads a poem at Emilia Phillip’s book reading.
Bruce, and others who participated in the event, felt similarly grateful to be a part of Phillips’ unveiling of “Nonbinary Bird of Paradise.”
“Because of Emilia’s decision to platform multiple voices and multiple authors, they recognize that writing isn’t created in a vacuum,” Bruce says. “It was a celebration of the community as much as the book, because the community influenced the making of the book in so many ways.”
UNCG has nothing but pride for communities like Emilia Phillips’ that bring art into the world to spur curiosity and impart understanding. We celebrate this during Pride month, as we do throughout the year.
Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications. Photography courtesy of Felipe Troncoso
UNCG Camp Helps Build Communication Through Horses
Posted on June 26, 2024
The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders camp for adults with aphasia at HorsePower Therapeutic Learning Center helped the participants improve their language abilities and try a unique experience with horses in the process. The camp is run by grad students, faculty, and staff, and enables the grad students to earn clinical hours.
UNCG Artists Turn Up the Heat at Community Showcase
Posted on June 24, 2024
Students at UNC Greensboro put on a sizzling show for the community. They browsed the artwork made by students in the School of Art or made their own, courtesy of an iron pour and steamroller press.
The packed event on April 20 began with an art showcase inside UNCG’s Gatewood Studio Arts Center and closed with an iron pour in the sculpture yard. During the day, visitors toured the studio spaces, attended workshops, and watched demonstrations of glass working and ceramics.
UNCG Foundry Director Kevin Vanek supervised the students pouring molten iron into art tiles that had been carved beforehand by guests. The students built the furnaces themselves, which heat metal to almost 3,000 degrees.
“This is a new furnace that hasn’t been used before,” says Loucks S., who is getting a bachelor of fine arts in painting. “That’s really exciting. They’re going to see some really cool fire work, glassblowing, and other sculpture art.”
It was Vanek’s goal upon joining the School of Art faculty in 2020 to revitalize iron pouring at UNCG, taking students on tours of foundries and attended conferences so they could learn how to do it themselves. It was inspiring to see how many people turned out for their showcase. “This is a big event,” said Vanek. “The community gets to come out and see the whole thing and get drawn into the arts. It gives them an understanding of how the work they’re looking at gets made.”
Sculpture and ceramics major Viktoria Banovic says iron pouring promotes community engagement. “Much of the iron that we’re using today was donated by community members from old cast iron radiators. The more that we involve them, the more we get to create.”
Student artists sold other types of art and provided musical entertainment during the showcase.
Loucks was happy to see students work together. “Having an opportunity to do this at our own school with our peers and having younger people lead the event itself is really empowering for artists.”
The students hope this event gave people a greater appreciation for the artistic process. “Opening eyes to the possibilities of art and what we are able to make,” says Banovic. “A lot of work and teamwork goes into this artform. It’s important to us to shine a light on it.”
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications Video by David Lee Row, University Communications Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
UNCG Alumna Fights Teacher Burnout And Gives Kids a Head Start
Posted on June 20, 2024
When many teachers feel compelled to leave their job, it’s not because they’ve lost a love for teaching or stopped caring about students.
Dr. Tyla Ricks ’23 learned, while working with early care educators for her dissertation at UNC Greensboro, that their departures are largely driven by low pay and burnout. “They don’t necessarily leave the field,” she says. “They leave to go to another program that may pay a little bit more.”
Ricks says since the pandemic, educators have felt pushed to the brink. The expiration of COVID-era stabilization grants for childcare this month adds to that uncertainty.
“The question has become, ‘What’s next?'” she says.
Ricks also speaks from personal experience. She spent five years teaching in early care and education, working in Atlanta, Georgia and Greenville, North Carolina, until she felt burnt out.
“I remember leaving the classroom, and I said, ‘I still want to impact the classroom, but in a different way,'” she says.
Ricks came to UNCG’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies to get her PhD. “I wanted to focus on how we can better equip teachers to personally take care of themselves while they’re in the classroom.”
Her research introduced her to a local organization, Ready for School, Ready for Life in Guilford County, with whom she is now helping to craft a positive answer to “What’s next?” in education.
Personal goals Form A Bigger Picture
While at UNCG, Ricks conducted a book study – funded by the Administration for Children and Families – with early care and education teachers in Guilford County. The subject of the book was teacher resilience.
Her participants answered questions related to their perception of resilience, their support networks, and what they thought others expected from them. As they progressed through the book, they began to talk about what they wanted to change.
The teachers opened up to Ricks about something they don’t often get to address – their own health and wellbeing. Ricks says, “Normally, when you hear about teachers and their goals, it’s in relation to the classroom. But these teachers wanted to talk about setting personal goals.”
Their conversations about exercise, diet, and de-cluttering helped Ricks see the bigger picture. “I’m giving them the tools to address wellbeing and resilience, but if their environment doesn’t change, then how much of a help or support can that really be?” she says. “Wellbeing needs to be embedded in everything: their programs, professional development opportunities, and policies overall.”
Ricks and her Ready for School, Ready for Life colleagues at “Books on Break.”
Ricks also took up an assistantship working with teachers and directors from three childcare centers to assess their work environment. “That project was funded by Ready for School, Ready for Life,” says Ricks. “Someone from my assistantship encouraged me to apply to that organization, and so I did.”
Ready, Steady, Go!
Ricks is a continuous quality improvement specialist for Ready for School, Ready for Life, also known as Ready Ready. The non-profit partners with more than 100 community organizations, among them UNCG’s Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships. By emphasizing community-wide collaboration and identifying gaps in care, Ready Ready makes it easier for the people who want to help reach the people who need that help.
“We work to help build a system of care,” Ricks says. “I’m not working directly with teachers or working with children as a teacher, but I am working with organizations as a whole who help young children and families.”
For example, Ready Ready teamed up with Book Harvest for “Books on Break,” an event for children to pick up free books to take home before the summer break.
As the name Ready for School, Ready for Life implies, they also support the physical, social, cognitive, and communication skills that will carry children beyond a classroom. “For example, we had an organization come to us who is in need of car seats,” says Ricks. “We try to assess the needs of the community, which are ever-changing. We try to figure out a way or make our partner organizations aware of that need.”
Showing her work
Ricks’ research at UNCG is also making sure one subset of educators does not get overlooked. In February, two months after her doctoral hooding at UNCG’s Graduate Commencement ceremony, she took her findings to a place where it might be seen by advocates and policymakers.
Ricks’ presentation “Insights on Head Start Educators’ Wellbeing: Amplifying the Voices of Black Educators” drew from the book study she did while at UNCG. “The majority of my sample were women of color,” she says. “I was able to present the things they said throughout the book study, aligning it and seeing how other research talked about women of color in early care and education.”
Back in Guilford County, Ricks sees her goals play out every time she goes to an event made possible by Ready Ready. “Going to ‘Books on Break’ and seeing children light up, because they’re getting five free books, that was very rewarding,” she says.
There is no short or easy answer to “What’s next?” for educators, but Ricks has never shied away from embracing a challenge.
“We’re not only trying to help our partners accomplish their initiatives,” she says. “We’re trying to hear their voice, to see what they’re seeing. They’re the ones in the community, helping parents, helping children, helping families.”
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications Photography courtesy of Dr. Tyla Ricks, Ready for School, Ready for Life
Create a culture where children and families thrive.
Five Spartan women’s softball players were named to the Academic All-District team and all are athletes excelling on the field and in the Kinesiology department.
Class of 2024 Grads Thrive at The Middle College at UNCG
Posted on June 19, 2024
Middle College of UNCG Class of 2024
The Middle College at UNC Greensboro offers a unique high school experience for Guilford County students interested in pursuing careers in health sciences. Opening its doors in 2011, the high school benefits from its location on UNCG’s campus to provide college courses to students. Students must also obtain 250 service hours to graduate, which is easy when you’re connected to a university whose motto is “Service”.
Last month, the Middle College graduated its twelfth class, including some very accomplished students. Their stories illustrate how the Middle College at UNCG is providing accelerated educational opportunities, enhanced service-learning experiences, and access to UNCG’s campus which makes the transition to any college easier for its graduates.
Pavan Ariyawansa’s Fast Track to Pre-Med
Pavan Ariyawansa
When Ariyawansa finished middle school, he knew he needed a challenging high school environment that offered as many college level courses as possible.
“I have always taken college classes, not to fulfill requirements or to become Valedictorian, but purely for learning,” Ariyawansa explains. “I took numerous biology, and chemistry college classes and took many classes over the summer while interning in places such as the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Wake Forest Center for Precision Medicine, and currently Duke University.”
He appreciated the academic rigor and the flexibility of course scheduling at the Middle College. His courses at UNCG gave him experience with time management and allowed him to mix with undergraduates.
“I had more independence than high school students and was slowly exposed to college culture and the typical struggles of undergraduates.”
By setting goals early, staying motivated, and taking heavy course loads, Ariyawansa was able to graduate from high school 1.5 years earlier than the average student. He finished his senior year with an internship in a research group at Duke University that simulates and designs proteins. In the fall, he will attend UNC-Chapel Hill on the pre-medical track with a long-term goal of becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon.
“Despite having long days at my internship and long nights working to complete yearlong courses in a matter of weeks, I have no regrets about the results,” Ariyawansa states. “Through my high school experience at the Middle College at UNCG, I have realized how much potential I have and how much more I can do in the future.”
Chloe Thompson Finds Her Voice
Chloe Thompson
Chloe Thompson originally came to the Middle College at UNCG because of her interest in health science careers. A Type 1 Diabetic since the age of two, she always wanted to help others who struggled with the disease. As a high achieving student, she was drawn to the smaller class sizes and the opportunity to take classes at UNCG that other high schools didn’t offer.
“I felt like I had more freedom in my education,” Thompson explains. “The smaller class sizes gave me more one-on-one time with teachers. I was able to voice my opinions and ideas in classes, and I could have meetings with my guidance counselors to talk about my specific college and career plans.”
Working with teachers gave her confidence and direction, and access to UNCG’s campus acquainted Thompson with a university atmosphere.
“For example, my high school chemistry class was able to use the UNCG labs for experiments to prepare us for college labs,” she says. “I also remember how lecture classes initially intimidated me since they were so large, but support from my Middle College teachers helped me overcome my anxiety.”
Furthermore, she found extracurricular activities where she discovered a passion for her Native American culture. From participating in the Middle College’s diversity club to leading activities at UNCG’s pow-wow this spring, Thompson has expanded her connection to her Mohawk ancestry during her high school years.
Participating in conferences and organizations through Guilford County School’s American Indian Education program enlightened Thompson about Dartmouth College’s Indigenous Fly-In Program. In December, she was one of 70 students from across the country selected for the program. It was an opportunity to attend a prestigious Ivy League institution 800 miles from home while remaining connected to a community of Native American students.
Thompson credits the Middle College with academic preparation and support to explore her passions, which ultimately enlightened a path to Dartmouth College. There she plans to major in biology, with minors in Native American and Indigenous Studies and English.
“The Middle College has helped me so much in my education,” she raves. “I’m not sure what I would be doing for college if I hadn’t come here.”
Salvador Perez-Toledo Discovers a Whole New World
Salvador Perez-Toledo
“My favorite memory from the Middle College at UNCG was exploring the UNCG campus and realizing how massive it was,” Salvador Perez-Toledo remembers.
High school at the Middle College not only expanded Salvador Perez-Toledo’s view of a college campus, but it gave him a comfortable transition to the next step. He thrived in a high school atmosphere with lots of class options and flexibility.
“At the Middle College, I was able to discover and adapt to the college lifestyle at an early age which allowed me to mentally mature at a quicker rate,” he says. “This was all possible because college classes immersed me into a new environment full of others with similar ideas.”
Perez-Toledo came to the Middle College with health science interests but when he began to question his commitment to a medical career, he took advantage of UNCG’s classes to explore other career directions.
“I enrolled into some business classes which ultimately made me realize my passion for business,” he explains. “Although I figured out my path on my own, I give a lot of credit to our career coordinator, Mr. Prioleau, for offering me advice and guidance along my journey. He cemented my idea of becoming a successful businessman.”
Those early classes and the community he witnessed on the UNCG campus made Perez-Toledo decide to continue his college studies right here at the Bryan School of Business and Economics.
“The Middle College at UNCG gave me freedom to spread my wings and enjoy finding my own path in life,” he says. “There will be obstacles, but no good story is a straight arrow. I look forward to joining the Spartan family and fighting for my success.”
Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications. Photography courtesy of the Middle College at UNCG and its students.
