CAROLINA ON OUR MIND HAP P ENIN G S AT U N C
LEFT During his time in Croatia at the Plitvice Lakes National Park, Antonio Díaz investigated the phthalate contamination in Zagreb drinking water. RIGHT The summer before her freshman year at UNC, Carolina Coch (center) spent four weeks in the Yukon territory, taking hikes, sleeping outdoors, making new friends and being pushed out of her comfort zone. “It’s a really interesting environment to get to know someone!” she says. Photography courtesy of Antonio Díaz and Carolina Coch
Wo rl d C la ss Two Morehead-Cain scholars from Chapel Hill share their experiences
T
By B rooke Spach
he Morehead-Cain Foundation established the United States’ first merit-based scholarship at UNC in 1945. The program is one of the most selective educational opportunities in the country, accepting just 3% of applicants using the key selection criteria of leadership, character, scholarship and physical vigor. The scholarship covers all expenses for four years of undergraduate study at UNC and features summer enrichment activities. We asked two local recipients about growing up in Chapel Hill and their summer research and internships. In high school, Carolina Coch stayed busy with the Habitat for Humanity club and played on the Chapel Hill High School tennis team. She thought about looking out of state for college, but then, she says, “Morehead offered me an opportunity I couldn’t really refuse.” For Carolina, Chapel Hill is home to family and friends – new and 30
chapelhillmagazine.com
September/October 2021
old. She’s grateful to still live near her parents, Beatriz Plaza and Gabriel Coch, and not solely because she can take her laundry home. “Chapel Hill provided an incredibly supportive system for me going into UNC because a lot of the people that grew up in my area also ended up [attending] UNC, which was super cool,” she says. Through the program, the rising junior has met unique people and created countless new relationships within the Morehead community. “[The Morehead-Cain Foundation] pays a lot of attention to how authentic people are and what makes them interesting individuals, so everyone is super well-rounded,” she says. One vital aspect of the scholarship is the summer enrichment program. Between school years, Morehead scholars participate in a fully-funded educational experience of their choice as it relates to