Student of the Week: Drew Breithaupt

Pit Talk highlights a different student each week. Know someone we should profile? E-mail dthpittalk@gmail.com.

Here’s this week’s Student of the Week:

Name: Drew Breithaupt
Class: 2012
Hometown: Shreveport, La.
Major: Health Policy and Management

Drew Breithaupt, co-founder of Autism Outreach at UNC, got interested in learning about autism and working with autistic children and their families after growing up with an older sister who had it herself. During his freshman year, he said he met fellow student Carrie Dobbins after noticing her autism t-shirt at Carolina Kickoff.

“We were both interested in autism and talked about joining some kind of organization on campus that was specific to autism, and when we couldn’t find one, we talked about starting one ourselves,” he said. He added they prepared the necessary paperwork to start club over their winter break.

Breithaupt said his interest in autism was the major reason he declared Health Policy and Management as his major. “I’d really like to start a clinic … several clinics … for autism, and that’s how I got interested in management and the health care field,” he said.

The club holds events for local families with autistic children every second and fourth weekend of the month — one of which I plan on checking out for the first time this weekend. They are currently looking for volunteers.

“As college students we can’t give correct treatment to those with autism, so the most feasible thing we can do is give families rest by hanging out with their kids with autism or doing activities like that,” he said.

For more information, you can visit the group’s website online.

Eric Pesale: What brought you down to UNC?

Drew Breithaupt: I could definitely see myself living [in North Carolina], and there were the most job openings in the Triangle Area that had to do with health and science. I knew I was interested in health & science so I thought it would be a great place to go to school and a great place to work too after you get out of college. Also, UNC med school is probably the best deal out of any med school in the country. Maybe someday I’ll go to UNC Med.

EP: What’s your favorite Franklin Street eatery or bar, and why?

DB: Probably Yo-Po, because of the really good prices and I like ice cream. It’s a good place to hang out.

EP: What do you usually get there?

DB: Chocolate peanut butter swirl.

EP: How would you describe the ideal perfect day?

DB: Probably go on a really long bike ride somewhere in the mountains, round the Appalachians, and hanging out with a couple of friends, go hiking, and finish off the night with a dinner with my girlfriend.

EP: What’s your biggest fear?

DB: If I ever had kids, it would be that one or more of my kids had a severe developmental disability.

EP: Most embarrassing moment?

DB: There was one time in middle school that I fell on some chocolate, and just didn’t even realize it, and walked around for a long time with a brown chocolate stain on my butt.