Carolina Covenant Scholar Christina Fulp with her husband and two sons (photo by Jeyhoun Allebaugh)
Carolina Covenant helps mom of two rewrite her story — and her future.
By Audrey Smith ’10
Christina Fulp ’27 isn’t a traditional undergraduate student. She transferred from Western Piedmont Community College, is married and the mother of two young boys, and worked for years before beginning her undergraduate education.
Though she’s only in her first academic year at Carolina, the story of how she came to Carolina began years ago. Fulp was working at a prison in Morganton, North Carolina, and very unhappy in her job when she decided that she wanted to do work that she enjoyed, not just work because she had to. She recognized that this change would require getting an education.
Fulp quit her job and enrolled full-time at Western Piedmont Community College. She also learned about the Carolina Covenant around this time and knew that she would qualify for the program, if she could get accepted at Carolina.
Carolina or bust
“Once I learned about the Carolina Covenant, I was dead set on getting into Carolina,” said Fulp. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford college anywhere else, not even online. So I was determined to do anything and everything I could to get into Carolina.”
But, in Fulp’s words, “It’s Carolina – you have to excel and stand out to get into Carolina.” Her determination to be accepted as a transfer student led Fulp to spend hours volunteering and tutoring, to only miss a single day of classes in two years, and to earn a 4.0 GPA at Western Piedmont.
She was accepted as a transfer student and began studying medical anthropology at Carolina in summer 2024. Fulp hopes to get a master’s in social work following graduation. But her first semester at Carolina as a non-traditional and first-generation college student was hard.
Charting a path as a non-traditional student
The Covenant holds regular events to help Scholars acclimate to life at Carolina. Many of these events are at night during hours when families are connecting after work and school. Fulp’s husband, Brandon, works night shift for the Department of Corrections three to four nights a week, and she has to assume parental responsibilities for their 5-year-old and 8-year-old sons at 5 p.m. when he leaves for work.
“At first I felt really isolated as a student who’s also a parent,” said Fulp. “I wanted to be at these events and connect more with others at Carolina, but it didn’t feel like I could. Then I talked to the Carolina Covenant staff who told me, ‘Bring your kids.’”
Fulp wasn’t sure at first, but program staff insisted, and so she began bringing her children with her to after-hours Covenant events. Covenant staff have also served as liaisons with other areas of the University to ensure that Fulp can connect with academic coaching and other resources outside of traditional hours, if needed.
Finding solutions for unique needs
“I don’t think there’s anything that the Covenant team wouldn’t or couldn’t do to help support Covenant Scholars,” said Fulp. “When it seems like I can’t participate in something, they always find a way to get me the information and connections that I need.”
There was an evening session at the UNC School of Medicine that Fulp wanted to attend, but couldn’t because it was at night and she needed to care for her children. When the Covenant staff found out, they reached out to the medical school and had copies of the presentation and all information from the session sent to Fulp.
“After sharing about my early struggles with the Covenant staff, this spring semester has honestly been wonderful,” said Fulp. “Once I started actually using all of the support that was available to me as a Covenant Scholar, I’ve been much less stressed.”
Fulp isn’t the only one in her family benefitting from the Carolina Covenant. “My sons love coming to Covenant events with me,” said Fulp. “And involving my kids in what I’m doing at Carolina gives me an opportunity to model the behavior that I want for them too. It’s not that they necessarily have to go to college, but as we do our homework together and I bring them to Covenant events, they are learning what it looks like to work hard every day and work toward a goal.”
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