I am Foster Guns and I am a freshman at UNC Chapel Hill. I am originally from the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which is on the easternmost coast of the state. I went to school at First Flight High School, where I was a part of many sports and clubs. Notably, I had my Varsity letter for indoor volleyball, and also played beach volleyball and danced for roughly 15 years. Both my parents worked when I was young, and my mom was always very active in my school’s Parent Teacher Association, which always made school very fun and brought me a lot of close relationships with teachers and staff.

In high school I became very interested in journalism, so in my freshman year I joined a course at my school called ‘Introduction to Journalism’. This class would shape me for not only the next four years, but let me look into my future with excitement, as I began to plan my degree and working life in journalism. I was on both yearbook and newspaper staff, and spent every day for the next four years coming into school and doing journalistic work. By senior year, I was editor-in-chief of both the school newspaper, Nighthawk News, as well as the yearbook, Shorelines. This passion would take me to institutes, one of which being UNC, to have my work judged and earn awards. My junior year, the newspaper won the Robert F. Kennedy journalism award, landing us on the national stage of competition. These achievements, trips across the country, and friendships created within my class encouraged me to pursue a degree in journalism at the collegiate level.

I am beginning a job with the Hussman School working for the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association (NCSMA), to help run a summer camp for high school journalism students this semester. This is very special to me, as I was a former camp-goer, as well as being an officer of the camp and helping run it for one year in high school.

Not only was my plan to major in journalism, but it was also to pursue a degree in political science. My mother had always worked for the local government in my town, and was the first woman to assume the role of Planning Director in the town's history. This propelled me into interest. Seeing my mom achieve such high honor within my community and truly making differences piqued my interest, as working in government combines my love for journalism with my strong sense of activism and order. I plan to be a public information officer for the state or federal government, as I also always loved speaking to others and being a beacon of information.

Outside of my ambitions, a few of my favorite things come straight from my hometown. As mentioned before, I love to play beach volleyball, and an added perk of living on the beach is that you’re surrounded by a court, and all you need is a net! I also love to surf, swim and anything to do with the ocean. A few other of my favorite things are my cat, writing, cherry slurpees from 7/11, listening to music, and Carolina blue!