There was no shortage of surprise and congratulations for two UNC students who were awarded Rhodes Scholarships on Saturday.

Paul Shorkey said he doesn’t remember much of the announcement in Washington D.C.

“At first you couldn’t really form words,” he said. “I was just kind of shaking and in complete shock.”

When Laurence Deschamps-Laporte landed in Atlanta on Sunday, her phone vibrated with congratulatory e-mails for a full 30 minutes.

“I’m really happy,” she said. “I’ll have to read them all.”

Deschamps-Laporte and Shorkey, both seniors, are the latest of the University’s recipients of what is considered the most prestigious graduate scholarship in the world.

It funds study for two or three years at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

The University has now had 47 students chosen for the scholarship since its inception.

Shorkey, a Charlotte native and member of the Chi Psi fraternity majoring in psychology and business administration, said he plans to use the scholarship to aid his plans to become a clinical psychologist.

Deschamps-Laporte, of Repentigny, Quebec, said she hopes to continue studying international development while abroad. She said she is particularly interested in reproductive health.

Read more: http://www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/article/2010/11/two_seniors_win_rhodes 

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