Campus Cutie: Aly Dove ’16

Aly Dove is SO GRAPE! (her pun, not mine)

Name: Alyssandra McCall Dove

Age: 20

Graduation year: 2016

Eating House: Rusk

Hometown: Charlotte, NC

Major: Anthropology

Relationship Status: Single

Activities: Club soccer, YouthMap, DO, EcoHouse

I first got to know this week’s Campus Cutie when we were homeless on the streets of Washington, DC for an Alternative Spring Break trip last year. That’s some hardcore bonding. And the fact that she’s still friends with me after I drove the group the wrong way down a one-way highway in downtown DC speaks volumes about her kind, compassionate, forgiving character. What a gal! She’s got one of the biggest, brightest, most contagious smiles on campus, and she was extra bubbly as we sat down for this interview: “This is so corny!”

Here’s what you need to know about our cutest Cutie yet:

She’s passionate about kids and photography: When Aly went to Nicaragua in 2010 and then to Togo two years later, she made sure to document her experiences with lots of pictures. She’d take pictures of the local children and even let them take a few photos themselves. It wasn’t until she worked with the National Coalition for the Homeless over spring break 2013 that she realized art’s potential to break down socioeconomic, cultural, and language barriers. She and her friend Max Feinstein, who did the Homeless Challenge with her, narrowed their focus to photography and entered the Ideas of March competition last spring and won funding for YouthMAP – a weekly program at Ada Jenkins and Barium Springs through which the YouthMAP team teaches elementary-age kids about photography and the editing process. “It’s perfect. It’s my everything,” says Aly. She adds that she loves watching the kids’ confidence bloom as they recognize themselves for their talents and receive the constant positive affirmation that comes from the instant feedback of seeing a photograph.

She loves her family: “Something people would be surprised to learn about me? Probably that I have a twin. I won’t say we’ve ever had twin telepathy, but we had this intuitive chemistry on the soccer field where she’d be on defense and pass me the ball without even knowing where I was. Oh, and I also have a dog named Shibu [pronounced Shy-boo], which I’m pretty sure means ‘hockey puck’ in Russian.”

(Aly, right, with twin Taylor)

She’s got a killer Davidson bucket list: After a failed campaign to have the Eco House remain in commission for this past year, Aly was over the moon to learn she’ll be living there next fall. Living in the Eco House, studying abroad (hopefully in Jordan, Nepal, and Chile with SIT in the spring), and busting some moves in Dance Ensemble are the top three things Aly is looking forward to about the last half of her Davidson career.

She really likes breakfast pastries: HC – Would you rather… change gender every time you sneeze, or not be able to tell the difference between a baby and a muffin? “Change gender. I could sneeze again, or gain a new perspective on life. And I like muffins a lot, so I’d be afraid of eating a baby.”

She’s always thinking about safety: HC – New dorm is about to burn down; what’s one thing you grab out of your room? “A water bottle… to put some fire out.”

She’s on Twitter: Aly’s friend Pooja created a parody twitter account for her a few months ago (which yours truly actually followed thinking it was Aly). Our Cutie’s official statement on her supposed Twitter personality: “The handle is @itsmealydove, but I got confused and asked who Mealy Dove was. And that’s the story of how I got a new nickname.”

Clearly, Aly Dove has it all – she’s thoughtful, witty, and undeniably adorable. Meet her (and see some cool photos) at the YouthMAP Spring Gala this Thursday, May 1st, at 7pm in the VAC!

• Charlotte NC
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