Blue Sky Scholar Zoey Ainsworth discusses her journey to Carolina and how she seeks to give back. (Photo by Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Zoey Ainsworth describes herself as being “all in” during the school year. She certainly was at Harnett County Early College, where she earned 65 college credits she’ll bring to Carolina as a first-year student.
But lessons learned outside the classroom have been just as valuable to Ainsworth. This new Tar Heel from Sanford, North Carolina, about an hour south of Chapel Hill, plans to attend medical school and is interested in psychiatry.
Relationships with two loved ones have influenced this path.
Her grandmother who lived next door suffered a stroke that left her immobile and needed around-the-clock care for years before dying. Ainsworth saw how that wore on her grandfather and father.
Her 21-year-old brother, John, has a severe form of autism, and Ainsworth has helped take care of him for much of her life. She knows how delicate his day-to-day well-being is and how different, and at times challenging, life can be for both those with a disability and their caretakers.
“That perspective is really good to bring to patients because you have to factor in it’s not just their life — it’s the lives of everyone else around them,” she said. “You don’t know what situations they’re going through.”
Health care served as Ainsworth’s introduction to Carolina. Her grandmother received treatment in Chapel Hill at “the best hospital in the state,” Ainsworth said.
The daughter of two educators — her mother teaches kindergarten, her father at a community college — Ainsworth has always loved learning and embraces the challenge of mastering a new subject.
As she considered colleges, UNC-Chapel Hill became “the goal”: a financially manageable school offering an excellent education.
Ainsworth received a Blue Sky scholarship, awarded to exceptionally qualified students from middle-income North Carolina families. She’s a part of Honors Carolina and is eager to meet fellow honors students at its retreat early in the fall.
She’s also ready to bring her love of learning to Carolina and take advantage of the University’s many research opportunities and extracurriculars. When recently attending orientation, Ainsworth perked up when she learned students can earn course credit while working clinical hours and shadowing physicians.
“I want to get hands-on to make sure this is what I want to do,” Ainsworth said.
She’ll figure that out with time. If she pursues health care, Ainsworth wants empathy and compassion to be at the heart of her work.
She knows what it’s like to have others treat her poorly because her brother is nonverbal. Or struggle to explain why she can’t have friends over as often or in the same way others can.
“You have to understand that they fundamentally live a different life than you do,” she said of those with a disability. “But just because they have to do things a certain way or they cannot do certain things, that doesn’t mean they’re not people. They should be treated the same way as everyone else.”
As the final weeks of her summer wind down, Ainsworth is spending her downtime reading and gaming.
A “homebody,” she’s about to say goodbye to mom, dad and John — as well as her cat and two dogs. But they won’t be too far away.
Once “the goal,” Carolina will soon be another home for Ainsworth.
“I’m excited to be here because I think there are certain things that I haven’t been able to experience living in that situation that can open me up and make me grow as a person, socially and academically,” she said.
Learn more about the Blue Sky scholarship here. Story originally published by Brennan Doherty, University Communications and Marketing.
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