By 2006, CFK had been named a “Hero of Global Public Health” by Time Magazine and earned support from the Ford and Gates foundations, as well as making the itinerary for then-Senator Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya. Today CFK has a budget of $500,000, and partners with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But this isn’t just a story about CFK: Student readers stand to gain the most from Rye’s narration of the nitty-gritty of making change happen.

He writes the experience of raising $20,000 during his senior year (primarily from University donors) to get CFK off the ground. One learns about organizational leadership, and managing the relationship between engaged oversight from abroad while ensuring firm local control.

We learn about the importance of effectively judging character: In the right hands, $26 laid the foundation for clinics serving 40,000 people per year, while elsewhere thousands of dollars into school planning saw a far lesser return.

Rye is even candid about strains of international commitments: He had to balance his goals with a relationship with his future wife who had never even left the United States.

I’ll admit, the accounts of running human intelligence operations as a Marine officer in Bosnia, East Africa and Iraq may appeal to a slightly narrower UNC audience — the PWAD and ROTC crowd perhaps (though Rye does try to tie in lessons learned there to the broader theme of impact).

But overall, this is UNC’s very own Three Cups of Tea, Kibera-style, sharing lessons learned the hard way.

And Rye’s success through a phenomenal work ethic, with just a little luck, throws down the gauntlet to the complacent and would-be naysayers who would doubt the power of youth impact.

If you’re willing to be challenged to work harder, reach higher and aspire to change the world by a UNC graduate who has done just that, this book is a treasure.

Mark Laichena is a columnist from The Daily Tar Heel. He is a junior political science and peace, war and defense major from London, UK. Contact him at laichena@email.unc.edu