Playing It By Ear

He's slowly gearing up for finals, starting to further his musical endeavors, enjoying his relationship with his sister and getting accustomed to a University not new to his family.

"I'm just adjusting to the college lifestyle," Welch said.

And he's adjusting at his own pace - starting with his 13-hour course load that allows him to academically dabble in a bit of everything.

Welch wanted to try his luck with a Russian class, which he said after years of high school Spanish is a good change for him. "I guess I wanted to rebel against the Spanish language," he said.

Two days a week, Welch enjoys having his head in the clouds when he studies the stars in his astronomy class.

A look at the freshman's last two classes reveals his love for music - Welch is taking "Introduction to Jazz" and a first-year seminar dealing with the "Folk Music Revival."

"I definitely am interested in all kinds of music," Welch said.

Coming into the semester, Welch knew his work ethic would have a heavy effect on how his grades would end up this semester. But so far, things have been fine with his classes.

He's just floating along.

"The workloads aren't too bad," Welch said, noting that he's looking to finish the semester strong but that finals are a key ingredient in doing well.

Staying in line with his laid-back temperament, the what-to-major-in dilemma isn't a concern at all.

Think American studies, religion or philosophy, but don't pin him to that.

This freshman is just seeing how classes go for now.

Welch knows that along with a positive academic life, a healthy relationship with his twin sister, Katie, is vital for a good college experience at UNC.

And things are working out better than he first thought they would.

"It's actually been good. I've liked it," he said. "There's not that automatic association."

Even though their circles of friends overlap a little, Welch said, he likes the flexibility their contact has gained at the University.

"We can go a week without seeing and talking to each other to talking every day," he said.

He's just enjoying it as it evolves.

Not only did Welch come to UNC with his twin sister, he has gained 50 brothers since his arrival.

Welch joined Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. And now he's just getting to know life in a fraternity.

"I really like all the guys," he said. "(Alpha Tau Omega) definitely offers a lot of avenues that wouldn't be available otherwise."

But his fraternity brothers aren't the only brothers he's keeping up with nowadays.

Welch is the youngest of five children - born two minutes after Katie in Winston-Salem.

Eighteen years later, their parents have divorced and both remarried, and Welch said the family is now enjoying good times.

"Everything's worked out for the best," he said. "(We're) doing great - as good as it's ever been, without a doubt."

Welch said his siblings had some bearing on everything from the person he is nowadays to where he's attending college.

Through their parents' divorce, Welch said his older sister, Ashley, helped the rest of the kids through the tough times by dealing well with the situation herself.

"She set the right example for all of us," he said. "My parents' divorce was hard. It was really hard."

Ashley graduated from UNC in 1997, and when it was time for her twin siblings to choose a college, she could give them the low-down.

"She encouraged us," Welch said. "She wasn't forceful about it, but she knew we wouldn't have regrets."

As Welch glides through his first semester at UNC, he wants to gain as much as possible - starting with his musical interests.

"I didn't have time for it earlier in the semester," Welch said. But now he's starting to spend more of his time making music.

Welch recently started taking banjo lessons and is looking for music-related UNC activities to involve himself in.

He started playing the guitar in the eighth grade and picked up the banjo two years later.

The freshman says it was older brother Stewart, a bass player, who got him into music by convincing their mother to buy him a guitar for his birthday.

"It all came from my brother," he said.

But while Welch says his brother is more of a jazz musician, his musical choice is bluegrass.

"It's the kind of music a lot of people might not be familiar with," he said. "But when they hear it, they really like it."

While Welch is paying close attention to everything that's coming his way during his time at UNC, he's hesitant to make any final decisions.

He's just coasting through Carolina for now.

The Features Editor can be reached at features@unc.edu.