“SPARK gave me a safe space where I can be myself,” said Soraya Lewis ’28, SPARK counselor.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, SPARK is a student-created and student-led immersive opportunity for leadership development, dialogue, and self-reflection for first-year students at UNC interested in collective impact and positive change. The goal of the program is to empower SPARK attendees to thrive and build the tools they need to be successful at Carolina and beyond.
SPARK’s main event is a fall retreat for undergraduate students in their first year at Carolina. About 70 participants attended the 2024 retreat, including 12 SPARK counselors who are returning participants or other passionate upperclassmen. These trained student leaders facilitate the retreat’s developmental experiences, activities, discussions, and more.
“As a counselor, having someone come up to you and trust you is the best feeling,” said Bethany Daniel ’26. “There’s a sense of empowerment for me because the retreat really is in the counselors’ hands.”
The activities are created by the counselors and often built on improving the previous year’s retreat or adding things they wished would’ve been included when they were participants.
One of the activities frequently cited as a highlight of the retreat by attendees is the flower ceremony. The participants crafted origami flowers and wrote things on the flowers they wished to let go of. Lewis described this ceremony as her favorite part of the retreat.
“You say, ‘My name is Soraya, and I am hoping to let go of… whatever you want to let go’ and then you toss that flower into the fire in front of everyone, and everyone says, ‘We see your spark,’” Lewis said. “It’s incredibly cathartic.”
Another impactful activity was “fishbowl dialogue,” where participants gather in a circle and answer questions based on self identity, empowerment and resilience.
“The fishbowl activity was absolutely meaningful, but also empowering to see all these different people going through similar things,” Daniel said. “We reveal some of the most intimate details about ourselves – our fears, our weaknesses, greatest aspirations and more. Nobody is required to share anything, but because people feel so at home, they share some of their darkest secrets and deepest feelings.”
(Bethany Daniel (top right) and other SPARK members during the 2024 retreat.)
The majority of the programming takes place at the retreat, but the community SPARK builds at the retreat remains throughout the year.
“The community is one of the best I have ever experienced in my life,” Daniel said. “It doesn’t stop at the retreat. My SPARK counselors helped take me to visit my grandma in the hospital. When I broke my ankle, they brought me a wrap and medicine. They are the first people I call if I need something.”
Building a community of leaders
Recently, SPARK received a generous gift from alumni Brandy Barnes ’97, ’01 (M.S.W.) and Chris Barnes ’95 to help fuel the program’s continued growth.
“Coming to Carolina was life-changing – that’s where I met my husband, and we now have a biracial daughter who is a senior at Carolina,” Brandy Barnes said. “Being from a small town, I know how important it was for me to be exposed to people who are different from me, so it’s important for me to ensure others have the same opportunity by strengthening programs that allow everyone to feel welcomed at Carolina.”
Brandy emphasised how important it is for students to find community, people to identify and share commonalities with, especially with her daughter in that same position now.
“As a parent, I worry about whether my daughter will find people she has things in common with, and is she going to feel welcome and like she belongs?” Brandy said.
SPARK addresses that worry by giving students a program focused on belonging, empowerment and leadership. As much as participants are given a safe space to be themselves, counselors are given a great opportunity to grow as leaders.
[Read more about Brandy’s story and why she gives to SPARK.]
“SPARK taught me that being a leader is not bossing people around, it’s about being a part of a community, understanding everyone in that community and recognizing what brings people together,” Lewis said. “It also helped me to be a more proactive member of the Carolina community as well as to empathize with people, by seeing what they go through personally.”
In its initial year, SPARK had 25 members and now the program can sustain 75 members. With additional funding, even more Tar Heels are able to take part in SPARK, find community and a safe place that lights their Carolina path.
In honor of SPARK’s 10th anniversary this year, the program has set out to raise $10,000 in celebration of 10 years of student leadership, collective impact, and positive change. Join Brandy and Chris Barnes to support SPARK today.
Written by Terzah Dyer
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