My name is Sydney Phillips, aka Fried Pecan Pie, and I’m the new State Fair public relations intern here at the N.C. Department of Agriculture. Now, before I tell you a little more about myself, I want to explain why I chose my persona for this blog. I’m a Raleigh native who’s been going to the N.C. State Fair for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, my mom challenged me to try something different from my usual fair diet of funnel cake, hushpuppies and apple cider. As a lover of all Southern desserts, I decided to give fried pecan pie a try to prove to her that I was able to branch out from my usual. All it took was one bite of that perfectly fried pecan pie for it to shoot to the top of my list of favorite fair foods.
I’m a rising sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in media & journalism and global studies. Here’s some fast facts about me: I love the color green, running, big cities, photography and pecan pie. I graduated from Millbrook High School in Raleigh, I’m conversational in Chinese, and my biggest hobbies are reading and writing.
I love reading all types of fiction and poetry books, and some of my favorite authors are Toni Morrison, Ocean Vuong and James Baldwin. I’ve written a couple of books of my own for fun and I hope to one day publish one of them. When I’m not reading or writing, you can often find me out with one of my cameras taking photos, or watching Batman and Star Trek shows. I also love traveling and seeing new things. After I graduate from college, I hope to get the chance to travel the world with my notebook and film camera, the Canon A-1.
I’m super excited to be interning with the Department of Agriculture this summer. I look forward to sharing State Fair stories and working with the Public Affairs team here to help bring this N.C. tradition to life. Nineteen years of eating fair food, looking at exhibits, riding fair rides and visiting the Got To Be N.C. Pavilion have truly convinced me of the phrase “Nothing could be finer than a day at the N.C. State Fair,” and I hope I’m able to convince you of that, too. Can’t wait to see you at the fair!
Very enjoyable and informative! Good work! We live in a small town in Oregon. Our son, one of them, lives in Bahama in your state (he says that’s pronounced Ba- hay-ma) with his sweet NC wife and their 4 great kids. We got to be there once at the time of the Fair and I hope to again this year. Never heard of fried pecan pie but I sure like the baked ones! Will have to try fried.
Good job on the info, and have a good year in school !