JeMya McClendon is a master’s degree student who is studying nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

First-generation graduate student Lisa Pham is motivated to pursue graduate school based on her family’s love of food and the connections that can come from sharing a meal.

Ph.D. student DeeAnn Spicer has attended Writing Wednesdays with our Initiative for Minority Excellence—she says they’ve helped her feel like part of a community while in graduate school.

Sinan Yorukoglu is an international student studying statistics and operation who has built community at Carolina through events on campus and meeting new people.

Traci Thompson is a master’s degree student in public administration who has built community by networking with other graduate students outside of her discipline.

Jesus Vazquez is a Ph.D. student in biostatistics who is researching issues that affect the Latino community.

Janae Shaheed’s research is influenced by her identity and a desire to stay true to her passions and perspectives. She’s engaged with multiple organizations on campus to build community.

Lauren Caton is a Ph.D. student who said she considers building a community a critical part of her academic education and time at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Prabhanka Deka is a Ph.D. student studying statistics. He sees real-world application in data nearly every day, which keeps him motivated during his studies.

Jeonghwan Kim is a Ph.D. student from Korea studying Latin American literature. He calls getting into his Ph.D. program as one of the happiest days of his life.