Saying Yes

Aliana Plauche ’21, a first-generation student, confessed she is probably in the minority by signing up for every listserv — “I’m in the .05 percent that reads everything, including flyers in dorms and libraries.”

Keeping an eye on available opportunities led Plauche to study abroad on three continents in her time at Carolina.

In 2018, the summer after her first year at Carolina, she found an opportunity through the Campus Y to work at a nonprofit school in Uganda for children with disabilities called Obwaagazi Children’s Foundation.

In fall 2019, Plauche became the first Phillips Ambassador and UNC student to study in Bhutan. Before making her way to Bhutan, Plauche spent the summer hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain through the six-week program, “Being a Pilgrim: Art, Ritual and Landscapes of the Camino de Santiago,” led by art professors Mario Marzan and Roxana Perez Mendez.

In spring 2021, Plauche seized yet another opportunity — the Honors Seminar on Public Policy and Global Affairs in Washington, D.C. She took three classes and had an internship for credit with the Death Penalty Information Center.

She’s not ready to leave Carolina just yet: Plauche was accepted into the inaugural master’s program in public policy, a dual bachelor/graduate degree. She began taking classes for the MPP program in spring 2022.

“Because the Carolina Covenant enabled me to graduate without debt, I was able to afford to apply to this program,” she said.

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