Zoe Tang
Photo by Jon Gardiner
Zoe Tang
First-year student
Class year
2028
Scholarships and enrichment programs
N.C. home
Forest City
For Zoe Tang, Carolina is a place to thrive
The first-year student from Forest City came to Chapel Hill to launch a medical career influenced by her mother’s cancer diagnosis.
The lunch rush at Akita Express is heating up. Customers fill the dining room of this Hibachi restaurant in Forest City, North Carolina, and cars roll through the drive-thru.
Zoe Tang pivots back and forth between the counter, kitchen and pickup window, handling transactions, bagging meals and delivering food.
Back home for winter break following her first semester at UNC-Chapel Hill, Tang isn’t around the family business as much as she used to be. But when she heads back to Rutherford County, she’s always willing to lend a helping hand alongside her parents, uncle and brother.
“Everyone within the restaurant knows each other, and we’re all family,” says Tang, a Carolina Covenant scholar studying biology. Thanks to the Covenant, Tang will have the opportunity to graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill debt-free, a key step in launching a medical career influenced by a family member.
At the restaurant, work can be chaotic. Adjustments on the fly are needed, and patience and communication skills are a must.
Tang and her brother, Kevin ’26, spent part of their childhood living with their grandparents in China. (Submitted photo)
But Tang, an aspiring pediatrician, has had plenty of practice handling chaos and adjusting to life’s changes beyond the kitchen.
Among the toughest curveballs thrown her way? Her mother’s ovarian cancer diagnosis that came just as her family moved to Forest City when Tang was an eighth grader.
A lot suddenly changed. Tang’s mother moved to Tennessee to receive specialized treatment and live with a relative, leaving her in Forest City with her father and brother.
Tang fulfilled new responsibilities both at home and the restaurant for the next few years. After school, she would get as much of her homework done as possible before working in the evenings and completing household work before bed.
“In the future, I hope to become a physician who shows compassion and expertise to their patients, just like the way that my mom’s doctor did.”
“It taught me a lot of skills and made me really resilient today,” she says.
Tang’s mother thankfully recovered and is cancer-free, returning to Forest City during Tang’s sophomore year of high school.
But watching her mother navigate a health scare made a lasting impression on Tang.
“I always wanted to be a teacher, but after seeing my mom go through her cancer journey and seeing how impactful cancer is to a lot of different families, it made me want to switch my direction and find a career in medicine,” Tang says. “In the future, I hope to become a physician who shows compassion and expertise to their patients, just like the way that my mom’s doctor did.”
awarded in undergraduate aid in the 2023–24 academic year
Nearly
of undergraduate students graduate without student loans.
Coming to Carolina
A testament to her interest in medicine, Tang made the tough but ultimately beneficial decision to leave Forest City just as her mother rejoined her family. A family friend suggested she apply to the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham, where she spent her final two years of high school.
There, she had the opportunity to conduct cancer research with professional scientists. It solidified the path she was on, but she wasn’t sure where that path would lead her.
She considered schools across the country with standout medical research programs. Because of that, she knew UNC-Chapel Hill would be one of her top choices, and she was already familiar with the campus because her brother is a student here.
Tang, seen here at her graduation from the North Carolina School of Science and Math, says she hopes to provide for her parents the way they’ve provided for her.
“The community that Carolina has and the balance between the social life and academics, it made me realize that the students here play hard, but they work even harder,” she says.
All doubt was removed, and Tang knew she was Chapel Hill-bound when she learned that she would be a part of the Covenant. The program would meet her full financial needs, and she would also have access to a network of support throughout her time at Carolina.
“Carolina offers everything I need to thrive. A strong academic foundation, countless opportunities to grow and people I can count on.”
“It relieved a lot of pressure and stress for me, as well as my parents,” Tang says. “Because my parents have provided everything for me throughout my life, and I didn’t want my education to put more of a burden on them.”
Fast forward to her second semester, and Tang has fully embraced the play-hard-work-harder mindset. She’s excelling in her classes, including chemistry and biology, and has embraced the opportunities to join clubs and attend sporting events with friends. In between all that, she’s volunteering at UNC Hospitals.
Eyeing a medical career, Tang is majoring in biology at UNC-Chapel Hill and minoring in medicine, literature and culture as well as medical anthropology.
She’s also participating in social sciences research and plans to return to medical research soon. Tang’s also eagerly awaiting the opportunity to study abroad, thanks to the Margerison Distinguished Scholarship she received.
Tang envisions a future where she’s helping others medically and providing for her parents the way they have for her.
It’s because of those goals that she’s come to Carolina, a school that can provide for her.
“Carolina offers everything I need to thrive,” she says. “A strong academic foundation, countless opportunities to grow and people I can count on.”
Story by Brennan Doherty, University Communications. Video by John Roberts, University Communications.
Tang has worked at her family's restaurant in Forest City, North Carolina, for years and still helps out when returning home during holiday breaks from UNC-Chapel Hill.
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