Second Sharp brother named Morehead-Cain scholar

MORGANTON, N.C. — Don’t tell Taylor Sharp he has big shoes to fill in following his two older brothers to UNC-Chapel Hill and one of them as a Morehead-Cain scholar.

“I have my own shoes,” said the senior at Patton High School.

Taylor, the son of Will Sharp and the late Amy Sharp, recently learned he is a Morehead-Cain merit scholarship recipient, which offers him a full ride to Carolina. Though he officially has until April to decide, Taylor wasted no time in sending back his notice of acceptance.

Taylor’s oldest brother, Josh Sharp, is a Carolina graduate, and his middle brother, Jacob Sharp, will be in 2013. Jacob, a Freedom High School graduate, was the last Morehead-Cain scholar from Burke County, receiving the honor in 2008.

Though his GPA is 4.8571 and he is ranked 11 th in his class of 209, Taylor said he has looked at his high school career as a way to experience his teen years to the fullest and not worry so much about his GPA and class rank.

He is Patton’s student body president, involved in numerous clubs, the leader of a sports spirit team and the producer of Taylor’s Gang, a show that carries on a tradition at Patton in showing what student life is like.

Being well-rounded is what made him a good candidate for the Morehead-Cain Scholarship, said Taylor’s English teacher John Zimmerman who has had Taylor in six classes.

“Taylor is the most well-rounded student I have had in my career,” said Zimmerman, who has been teaching for eight years. “Every teacher has that one kid he or she uses as a barometer to measure everyone else and 20 years from now I will look back and see that Taylor is that barometer kid for me.”

Zimmerman, the chair of the Humanities and Academically/Intellectually Gifted Studies Department at Patton, added there are many other bright students in Taylor’s class, saying his group is “the best to come through Burke County.”

Taylor was one of three Patton students who staff nominated for the Morehead-Cain Scholarship, which included an application process at the high school and then the application process for the scholarship with rounds of interviews, banquets and visits to see what student life is like at Chapel Hill.

He called the process “overwhelming” and “intense” at first but also said he stayed in the moment, enjoying the prospects and getting inspired by the possibilities ahead of him.

But Taylor realizes he can’t get too far ahead of himself.

He still has his high school work to complete, including Zimmerman’s reading assignments (they start Flannery O’Conner’s “Wise Blood” next week and recently finished Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and Joseph Conrad's “Heart of Darkness.”)

There also is his senior project, a requirement of all Burke County seniors before graduation.

Taylor chose to combine his interests in sports and business – he is considering a career in sports management -- and built fly fishing rods and will host a tournament.

The tournament has developed into a fundraiser to benefit The Hope Chest for Women, a charity based in Asheville that assists cancer patients.

Taylor’s mom died of cancer in 2010 and used the services at The Hope Chest for five years before her death.

He said his mom “would be smiling down” on him, proud of what he has accomplished. And he is proud of himself for getting through the difficult time in his life and doing more than even he set out to do.

The fly fishing tournament in Amy Sharp’s honor and to benefit The Hope Chest is set for April 21.

Dubbed “Fishing for Hope,” it will be held at Rock Creek in Bakersville. Entry fees for the two-person teams are $250.

Taylor already has raised $1,500 for The Hope Chest by auctioning off fly fishing equipment.

The other Morehead-Cain scholar in the family also raised money for The Hope Chest in 2010, just days after their mother’s death, through a benefit concert. Jacob plays in a band called Mipso Trio and held the concert at the Catawba Valley Brewing Company.

Jacob is taking a year off from college and will be a senior as Taylor enters as a freshman.

Taylor said he and Jacob always have been competitive and laughed at a post their older brother Josh, a comedian who lives in New York City, put on Facebook, saying, “I'm happy to say that my little brother, Taylor Sharp , just won the Morehead-Cain Scholarship to UNC. My other brother Jacob Sharp is nearing up on selling out the Cat's Cradle (a live music venue outside of Chapel Hill) again.”

The punch line, Taylor said, was all of this was going on while Josh was preparing for a puppet comic act in the basement of a New York bar.

For more on the upcoming fishing tournament, visit www.uppercreekangler.com and click on “Casting for Hope” or email casting4hope@gmail.com.

WSOC