Her Story
About Sierra
I'm a [AGE]-year-old student at UNC about to graduate with my bachelor's in political science, and I'll be going to law school in fall 2026. My typical day is incredibly full - I wake up around 9 and go on a run to start my day, then I work my on-campus job for the Carolina School of Medicine doing policy research on inclusive housing for individuals with developmental disabilities until around 1. After that, I go to the grocery store to buy ingredients for my fellowship with the Carolina Hunger Initiative, where we make healthy food with hidden vegetables for kids in an after-school program - things like sweet potato brownies and apple pie with zucchini. That usually takes until 5, then I meet up with my sorority for events at 6:30, followed by my RA staff meeting from 9 to 10, and then I do my homework from 10 to 1 in the morning. I'm passionate about working in public service to help children, especially children with special needs and children of color in low-income neighborhoods. I want to create policies and laws that don't discriminate and don't widen inequality gaps. I attribute my drive to my mom, who raised me and my three sisters alone and always had us in sports while working multiple jobs to support us - I've never been used to sitting still. I was inducted into the Order of the Golden Fleece as a junior, which is the oldest and highest honor society at UNC, and there were only 9 juniors in my class. That was something I worked really hard for and felt really validated by all the service work I do on campus.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sierra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my drive to my mom. She raised me and my three sisters alone, and she always had us in sports. She's always been very busy herself when it comes to working to support us - she's had multiple jobs. It's really made me work hard, and I guess I've never been used to sitting still, so I'm always doing something. I kind of attribute that to her from a young age. She also always made us do sports, and I think group sports are very important for development. I think almost everyone should do those because they teach you a lot about discipline and independence and also working together, which I think is a strong background that I've gotten from that.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say specifically when it comes to being in college, just to make sure that you do the stuff that you want to do and not do the stuff that will look good for your grad school applications. I think it's an issue a lot of people face - they feel like they're dragging and they're bored and stuff. But if you just kind of load your schedule with things you actually want to do, your story will map out from there. They're like puzzle pieces, and your story will map out from there. So just focus on what you want and what drives you, instead of focusing on what might look good and what will win you awards, because the awards will come when you actually dedicate it and you actually want to do it.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One particular challenge is that as a student, it can be hard to be taken seriously sometimes because I'm young and when I have an opinion, people aren't taking me seriously. Also, I do get sometimes imposter syndrome because Carolina is such a great school and there's a lot of great students here. It can be difficult to feel like I belong or I deserve the places that I'm at.
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