Video: Excellence within reach: Gillian Kepley

Gillian Kepley, a senior tour guide at the UNC Visitors Center and a graduating senior, talks directly to camera about her experiences attending UNC-Chapel Hill. Gillian is shown in the UNC Visitors Center, giving a tour to a group of people around campus, walking around campus, as well as in photographs from her childhood.

“Growing up in Apex, I grew up in a very loving family. Kind of small town Apex, it’s grown a lot over the years, but when I was growing up, it was still pretty small. I grew up with two older sisters. I just had a very loving family. It was a great childhood. UNC has always been on my radar. My mom was a first-generation college student from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and so I was always really inspired by her, and she raised us to be Tar Heels.”

“When it came time to apply for colleges, Carolina was always at the forefront of my mind. It definitely was my top choice. I got the email that I was accepted to Carolina. I was super excited and I immediately texted my family, my sisters, and so I just remember my family being so happy for me and so excited.”

“Finances were definitely a factor in me accepting my offer to Carolina. I was thinking, what is going to be the highest quality education for the price that I'm paying, and without a doubt, it was Carolina. I've found that tuition and fees are very much within reach. I didn't grow up with a college fund or anything like that. I had two older sisters who also went to college, but my parents have been able to help me out with my education quite a bit, which is super helpful. I am paying for part of my school through a couple of loans, I've taken out a few, but I also have my federal work-study job just as kind of like another form of income. I work for the UNC Visitors Center. I got the job the fall of my freshman year, when I was first looking for a work-study job.”

“At the Visitors Center I am a senior tour guide, I am a team leader. In addition to that, I also answer the phones, I call to confirm people's tours. I really love the people I work with and also I just love the work itself. I can't picture a better job than when I just get to walk around outside, and I get to tell people about the place that I love to be. I've been able to make a really strong community here at UNC. I feel like I've really found a place that I can be myself. I've learned what I really care about and what I'm passionate about, and my dedication to public service, I think, is something that I've really learned more about myself, and I've learned more about really how I want to make a difference in my community.”

“I hope to become a lawyer in the future and eventually use that degree to give back to my state. After graduation, I am planning to work for the Carolina College Advising Corps. I'll be paired with a high school in North Carolina. So what that means is I'm helping students who might be first-generation, who might be low income, or might just have questions about the college application process. I'll be there to help them out in their journeys. I just love higher education. I've really enjoyed my time at Carolina, and I want to be able to make it known that college is possible for students who might not think it is possible for them at the moment. I also think it's just really important to give back to a community that's given me so much. I've grown up in North Carolina my whole life, I'm a product of public schools in North Carolina, I go to a public university, and so I think giving back to that community is really important to me, and so I think that's really what draws me to public service.”

Text graphics appear on screen:

$3,000,000 awarded in the work-study program in the 2023-24 academic year

#1 best value among public universities in the U.S. for the past 20 years (U.S. News & World Report)

#5 public university in the country (U.S. News & World Report)

Excellence within reach. Visit: excellence.unc.edu.