Nadia Clifton

September 20, 2010

HONR 1100: UHP Freshman Seminar

Interview-Profile: Courtneigh Bumgardner

Courtneigh Bumgardner was born December 4, 1991 in Charlotte, North Carolina but

grew up in Kings Mountain. Kings Mountain was an interesting place to live because it was a

small town. It was easy to get to know everyone there because her parents knew all the other

parents. One memory she has from when she was very young occurs at soccer practice at her

elementary school. She was playing on the jungle gym and climbed to the top but got stuck; no

one would help her down and she fell and broke her wrist. She remembers she had to wear an

orange cast but she loved it because it had bubble wrap. She took great joy in going around and

hitting people with it.

Courtneigh was very active during her grade school years. She played soccer and volley

ball for both her high school team and for a club team. She was a representative for student

counsel and a member of Spanish club, science club, national honors society, and would have

been a part of the math club but her school didn’t start one until the year after she graduated.

She thinks it got started because she complained about it so much. She was also part of the

school band playing clarinet and part of the marching band as a color guard.

Also very active in her church, Courtneigh went on a mission trip to Honduras which was

very life changing. The best way to describe the trip would be to think about the commercials

on television that ask for donations for children. Everyone wore rags and the streets were dirt.
The cities were nicer but the houses were just dirt and wood put together. Fighting simple

diseases was difficult but fortunately the doctor’s office was extremely clean. The trip has made

her consider becoming a teacher or missionary.

In school, Courtneigh’s favorite subject was math until she took pre-cal. Algebra II was

her favorite. “Put me with numbers and x’s and I’m happy but I don’t like calculus.” Although

her major is currently undecided, she is exploring an education course. She is thinking of

teaching elementary school, maybe 2nd grade.

Most of Courtneigh’s friends went to bigger schools like Chapel Hill and NC State.

Coming to a smaller school, she felt she needed to take classes that challenged her. She didn’t

want to feel like she was breezing through things so she decided to join the University Honors

Program. She also thinks it would be cool to graduate with honors. Joining the UHP will give her

an advantage. If she is competing for a job with someone from the same type of college, she

will have an edge over the other person. She feels that the UHP will help her to become more

responsible and allow her to have wider experiences.

Since she signed up so late, Courtneigh is not living in Witherspoon. Instead she lives in

Lynch but she loves it. It is newly refurbished and has new carpets, beds and paint. She lives in a

double suite and according to her the rooms are huge.

This semester, Courtneigh has three honors classes: freshman seminar, honors art

society and film and honors English 1103. She thinks they are more personal than her other

classes; the teachers actually care and are willing to get to know her and learn her name. “In

statistics, I’m number 10. That is my number. I put it on everything” When asked about
volunteering, she said she loves it. She loves how it feels to help someone. She how it makes

both her and them feel.

Courtneigh is hoping that being in the UHP will broaden her knowledge and influence

how she structures her life. The UPH will assist her in learning on a college level and beyond.