Volume 1 | Issue 1
Spring
2009
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Carolina Scholars: Personifying best and brightest
By Hope Baptiste
Q: What do Carolina Scholars do at Carolina?
A: Everything.
Christian, on volunteer duty with the UNC Hospitals Air Care helicopter squad.
A: Even more.
Look at UNC senior Christian Mibelli, for example, a Carolina Scholar who came to UNC from Venezuela by way of Weddington, N.C. You couldn’t ask for a more involved, dedicated, well-rounded student—and that’s what the Carolina Scholars Program is all about.
Carolina Scholarships are merit-based, fully-funding awards that help bring the best and brightest students to Carolina—students whom other universities are also trying to woo with generous aid or scholarship packages, honors and research opportunities, academic rigor and campus environment. Christian is just that student. With offers from prestigious privates like Duke and Wake Forest universities as well as Davidson College, he had his choice of college experiences. He chose Carolina, and while the Carolina Scholarship Program certainly made Blue Heaven even more attractive, what really tipped the scales was UNC’s “personality.”
“To be able to contribute immediately to a place that has given me so much and that I have truly become a part of is really something special that I’ll take with me when I graduate. Anything less would be short-changing myself.”
» Christian Mibelli
“I was always interested in the ‘Tobacco Road’ schools,” he said. “Knowing that each had its own strengths, I had to find the right fit for me. When I visited Chapel Hill, I immediately felt its pulse—the warmth, the excitement, the pride—I couldn’t wait to become a Tar Heel.”
Christian hit the ground running and hasn’t looked back. “Carolina is so strong across the board and offers so many opportunities, for me it was a win-win situation,” he said.
He’s been a winner for Carolina as well. Totally immersed in the life of the University, Christian is an Honor student, a leader in student government and Greek life, a resident advisor and mentor, and an active participant in University affairs. After stints in student government chairing the Academic Affairs Subcommittee on Honor Program Reforms, the Student Safety and Security Board, and the Student Body Outreach Special Project, Christian is currently co-chair and director of University Services. It represents the student body in management and coordination of student-service-related departments on campus, including Campus Health Services, Housing and Residential Education, Carolina Dining, and Public Safety, among others.
Oh yeah, he’s also pursuing a bachelor of science in public health degree focused on Health Policy and Management in the Gillings School of Global Public Health. “I originally came here planning to do pre-med, but I changed my mind once I got here,” he said. “That’s what’s so great about Carolina. Now, I can join my interests in healthcare, politics and business in a really personalized curriculum that will hopefully set me on a course for a career that addresses national and perhaps even international health policy. Ultimately, I want to help improve a system that is intended to help people—that’s my goal.”
And he’s learning by doing. He earned his Emergency Medical Technician certification as a freshman and served as a volunteer for the UNC Hospitals Air Care helicopter squad and volunteered as a research assistant for an overcrowding study conducted by the UNC Hospitals Emergency Department. Now, he’s an undergraduate Intern for TSI Healthcare of Durham.
“Taking advantage of all Carolina has to offer has helped me get the most out of my college experience,” he said. “To be able to contribute immediately to a place that has given me so much and that I have truly become a part of is really something special that I’ll take with me when I graduate. Anything less would be short-changing myself.”
Lucky for Christian he chose UNC—lucky for UNC, too.