Building a Family of Scholars

“Nursing was the Lord’s way of getting me to Carolina,” shared Lindsay Corbett ’22, a senior at UNC from Smithfield, North Carolina. She said she chose UNC-Chapel Hill because of its prestigious, number-one ranked public School of Nursing.

“I came in wanting to study nursing, and I decided to come here before I realized that I would receive the Carolina Covenant, and that was just a huge blessing.”

Corbett arrived at Carolina thinking she had her career plans sorted, but her sophomore year proved pivotal.

Corbett volunteers at TABLE, a nonprofit organization that provides hunger relief and nutrition education services to children, and she leads a community group of young girls through her involvement with Cru, a campus ministries group. These experiences led Corbett to pursue a career in the nonprofit sector. Her sophomore year, she changed her major to human development and family studies, a pre-professional program in the UNC School of Education that prepares students for careers and/or graduate programs in human services, counseling, allied health and education.

“In my Leadership in Educational/Nonprofit Settings class, we’re learning the inner workings and structure of nonprofits and how to best serve people through these organizations, and I’m really enjoying it,” Corbett shared. “I feel a strong pull to work with nonprofits and am passionate about working with children from low-income communities.”

Next spring, Corbett will apply what she’s learned in this course as an intern at Chatham County Partnership for Children, a partner in the Smart Start network, where she’ll work with young children from rural and underserved communities.

While Corbett is busy serving communities, she’s also instrumental in building a community on campus through her work with the Carolina Covenant.

She began an internship with the Carolina Covenant Office during her sophomore year and by her junior year, she was serving as vice-chair of the newly developed Student Advisory Council.

“My sophomore year, the Carolina Covenant became more than just financial aid for me,” Corbett shared. “The Covenant office staff are so wonderful. Together, we are trying to facilitate and lead and turn the Carolina Covenant into more of a family of scholars.”

Now in her senior year, Corbett is chair of the Student Advisory Council.

“These are students who want to be involved in helping to set the vision of the Covenant and impact the experience of their peers and future generations,” said Powell. “For us, the Covenant is our students and the commitment that so many have made to Carolina. These students are our partners in everything we do.”

Corbett said the council is focused on expanding the number of faculty and staff who volunteer as mentors for Carolina Covenant students, as well as encouraging more students to participate in these opportunities.

“As an intern last year, I helped with the mentorship matching process,” she said. “It’s definitely a strategic effort that takes time to place students with the mentors most beneficial to them. These mentorship experiences are completely customizable and catered to the students and what they need.”

Corbett’s mentor is Margaret Barrett ’87, ’91 (J.D.), associate director of the Carolina Center for Public Service. “She’s already been so helpful and generous in sharing her network and resources, it is amazing,” Corbett said.

The Student Advisory Council also orchestrates a Covenant Gives Back service project every year. Last year they partnered with TABLE to provide educational resources to local children, and they hosted “College Mission Is Possible,” an information session for area high school students to learn more about how to prepare for and what to expect from college. The council is currently planning this year’s service projects.

“I’m excited to see what’s next for the Carolina Covenant community,” Corbett said. “It’s amazing to see the difference a community makes.”