If you see Devon McCarroll walking around campus, you’ll notice her, simple as that. There isn’t a person like her anywhere else in Boone, and I’d venture to say in the world, because of one simple fact: Devon has the most beautiful soul in the world. Like I’m talking full Jesse McCartney pretty face, beautiful soul ballad here. I say this because she has this incredible ability to make a connection with anyone she meets, and if you are lucky enough to know her well, your life is better because of it.
Through her involvement in her sisterhood Alpha Delta Pi, she has formed lifelong friendships and relationships that are going to last her long beyond her four years here at campus. McCarroll writes for her sisterhood as their correspondence coordinator, and she spends most of her time with this group of women that have changed her life. She stated: “I don’t like my sorority because we have a good reputation or we are the most affordable on campus, because those are all just words. I love my sorority because the people I have met and the connections that I couldn’t have made anywhere else.”
While we all may be diamonds in our own way, it’s pretty clear that no one shines quite as bright as Devon.
And that’s because Devon herself is incredibly multi-faceted, and if the light catches any part of her, she sparkles. If she is not with her sisters she is probably working with the Zen Club, the American Marketing Association, or the Advertising Club. She uses Zen Club to “keep her sane and grounded”, and to escape the stresses of college life.
She told me that this year, her junior year, has been especially transformative because this is the year of self-assessment. This is her finesse year, and she looks forward the future as she works every day to become the best version of herself that she can be. She is motivated to be the best version of her, so that she can be the best person for someone else. She strives to make connections, genuine connections, with people because she has always considered other people’s points of view in the hopes of understanding them and respecting them.
She explained her desire to make connections with others by beautifully stating: “I think that one of the most fascinating things that you can do around me is tell me what you love, tell me your passion. I have always tried to find what makes people tick, because I’m still working on finding what makes me tick. I think that is what I like to pursue, not surface level conversations, but ones that get to the core of the being that make both of us feel more alive because we shared that experience together. It’s not for fun, it’s just to be: to be human and to experience life together and value more than anything the raw moment. That’s what I love. That sounds very Carpe Diem, or maybe I should say Carpe Devon.”
She wants to go into creative advertisement because of this love of people and she hopes to change the stigma behind it. She acknowledges that sometimes this field an come across as cold and harsh, but she loves it because she wants more than anything to connect with people and to create something that changes people’s lives for the good. She also wants to form relationships with people that she has never met. Just as much as she wants to connect with people, she wants to understand people. She wants to relate to people on a human level, on the simplest, purest level, and she wants to introduce them to products or ideas that could change their lives for the better.
Yeah she may be busy, but that’s just the way she likes it. Devon is one of those people that, even when she is stressed, she still feels fulfilled.
She, in truly Cali girl fashion, quoted Jon Kabat-Zinn, stating: “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
At the end of the day, there is no one really quite like Devon McCarroll. Even as I type this, I know that I’m just not going to do her justice, because she is easily one of the best people that I have ever met. She has a beautiful heart, and soul. She is the female Jim Halpert, with a passion for Rihanna and Opera, and a love of In-and-Out. She is both hilarious and thoughtful, sweet and sassy, and honestly, an inspiration to myself, and everyone she meets. She looks at the world with wonder and she works every day to leave a lasting impression on anyone around her, whether it’s a deep conversation over coffee in Crossroads, or simply a smile on Sanford.
I asked her if there was any one statement that can sum her up, or a piece of advice that she would give. And now I leave you with this, because I know that I couldn’t have said it any better:
“Final Advice? Oh god, um I guess just be the moment, make the memory…that’s the best part of living, finding that beautiful moment in someone else or yourself. Sometimes life can be fake, but it’s the moments that make material real raw and relatable, that’s just what makes it worth it. (You know like that song by Fifth Harmony? I bet that’s what they were talking about).”