Most UNC college students don’t cease to admire their stroll to class.
They’ve accomplished it too many occasions. They know the paths, the buildings and the crowds by coronary heart. But on UNC Greg’s TikTok, @gregory.unc, those self same bizarre moments turn out to be one thing else: cinematic snapshots of a school expertise that college students might not notice they’re dwelling till they see it by means of another person’s lens.
UNC Greg is modeled after the unique @gregory.nyc account on TikTok — whose creator is definitely named Greg. Much just like the New York City account’s scenes of town, UNC Greg movies completely different corners of UNC’s campus and pairs them with Taylor Swift songs.
The movies seize every little thing from acquainted walkways to on a regular basis scenes round campus, inviting viewers to admire locations they might usually go and not using a second thought — from a dimly lit Wilson Library staircase to a tree-shrouded view of the Bell Tower.
Since @gregory.unc posted their first video on Aug. 31, one other UNC Greg account has popped up underneath the username @uncchgreg. North Carolina State University additionally has their very own, which first began posting on Aug. 26., and simply days in the past, a Duke Greg account popped up.
UNC sophomore Olivia Ritchie stated the movies permit college students to attach not solely with acquainted surroundings, but in addition with the feelings behind Swift’s lyrics.
“I think it’s kind of being able to associate certain places with certain emotions based on how you perceive her songs,” Ritchie stated. “A lot of her songs are emotional, and I think that everyone can kind of apply it to a personal moment in their life.”
For some, that connection could make acquainted locations really feel completely different. After seeing a @gregory.unc video to “Death By A Thousand Cuts,” Ritchie stated she started fascinated about the reminiscences hooked up to routes she and her associates stroll day by day, and realized these areas held extra emotion than she had realized.
For others, the movies are additionally a reminder to understand the UNC expertise. Palmer Foster, a sophomore, stated that shift in perspective is what makes the movies resonate.
“I think it’s more about just this idea of how everything can get so mundane and boring when you see it all the time,” Foster stated. “But then I think when you take yourself out of that space and add in, like, a sentimental song or something like that, then I think it makes this place seem more special.”
The creator of UNC Greg, who would solely communicate to The Daily Tar Heel if their id was protected, stated the account was impressed by NYC Greg’s potential to make bizarre moments partaking.
“He doesn’t always go to a lot of the very, like, flashy spots. Like he’s, every once in a while, at the Statue of Liberty, but he really takes very simple things and makes it into videos, but yet people still really connect with them, and I feel like it’s very similar for what I’ve made so far.” the creator stated.
The creator stated they hope UNC Greg can do the identical at Chapel Hill. They additionally stated UNC’s fast-paced surroundings could make college students so engrossed in what comes subsequent that they rush by means of the current, overlooking the smaller moments occurring round them.
For the creator, UNC Greg is finally about pausing lengthy sufficient to acknowledge these moments.
“I hope that people take the busyness of campus and look at how motivated and driven people are on campus, and also look at the stillness of the video as a moment of like pausing that and taking it all in, because UNC is such a special place to be in,” the creator stated.
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