University of North Carolina Athletics
I'm A Tar Heel: Erin Sugg
March 17, 2017 | Softball
To my Tar Heel Family,
The Tar Heel state is not only where I was raised but UNC-Chapel Hill hospitals is where I was actually born. As a true Tar Heel born and bred, the dream has always been to end up wearing a jersey with Carolina across my chest out on the softball field. Fortunately, that dream became a reality my senior year of high school when I committed to be a student-athlete at America's “southern part of heaven.” I remember before I had officially approved my acceptance, I came up to visit my older sister, who attended UNC at the time (she graduated in 2015). She offered to show me around campus but I told her that I wanted to wander around on my own to see if I could really envision myself here and, man, if I didn't fall even more in love with this university.
There is just something about sitting out in the grass of the Lower Quad on a sunny day people-watching as students, families, and orientation groups walk by. I enjoy wondering about each person's story and about what exactly brought them here, knowing good and well that there is no way to resist Carolina's charm. Yet even if anyone could resist, believe me when I say that they wouldn't want to. Take it from someone who is not ready to graduate in May and leave this place I've come to call home, Carolina is more than just any other school.
This university has given me life-long friendships, helped me grow in my faith, allowed me to continue competing in the sport that I love, prepared me for my career path, provided me the opportunity to study abroad, and taught me how to better love and accept others. I am thankful for the genuine friends I've made here who always encourage me and hold me accountable to a higher standard. I am thankful for the campus ministry of Athletes in Action, which taught me how to have a true relationship with Christ. I am thankful to my coaches, teammates, trainers, and softball support staff for pushing me to always be the best that I can be. I am thankful for my professors, mentors, and tutors for guiding me in my academics and career path. And I am thankful for UNC Study Abroad for enlightening me on the rest of the world and showing me how much there is learn and appreciate about other cultures.
Even with all this to be grateful for though, I haven't even begun to express how much my family has shaped my life. I am thankful for my loving parents for raising me right, first off as a Tar Heel fan, but also for teaching me to be ambitious and fearless in my dreams. I am thankful for my older sister, Ramy, for showing me how to be bold in following your passions, no matter what other people think. But I am also thankful to my extended Tar Heel family, whose support has been essential over my collegiate career. I simply love the roar of the crowd at ballgames and hearing cheers from fans up in the stands, seeming to know exactly when you need some encouragement. There really is no other feeling like that.
The University of North Carolina is the only place that I could have ever had such an amazing experience these past four years and I am so grateful to be a part of the tradition that cultivates experiences like this for so many.
It is with great pride that I can say: My name is Erin Sugg and I am, and forever will be, a Tar Heel.
Go Heels!
Erin Elizabeth Sugg
