Devon Litteral '14 Recruiting Profile

My ideal college experience would involve swimming, choir, theater and a self lead a capella group.  I would like to go to a school that is advanced in their swimming program as well as in academics and music. My dream would be to get a full ride to a college that I like and come out of college debt free.  As far as my dreams, goals, and aspirations... when I grow up, I want to be happy. 

I love to help people. When I was going into my freshman year of high school, I got asked to start coaching age group swimming as a volunteer. I really enjoyed it, and now that I'm 16 I get paid for it. Within this year (junior) I got asked to coach Girls On the Run, which is a program that teaches elementary girls to love themselves and others and to make healthy decisions. We all work on running simultaneously, and at the end of the 2 month program we all run a 5K. So far it's been both an enlightening and tiring experience. The girls are fantastic, and they're so grateful and thankful for everything they have. I'm certified to volunteer at the local humane society, although I can never find the time to visit and help out! I took a few personality tests and they all came back telling me that I love to help people and that teaching would be a good career choice for me.

However, I could never be a teacher. I would really like to be a photographer or a psychologist. I love taking pictures of people or places and seeing the result that comes out. Whether the pictures be beautiful or trash, I enjoy the process the most. I've had a few photography jobs already  and I loved doing it. I took headshots and stage pictures for the musical at my high school, and I've taken pictures for a few of my friends. Those friends told their friends and those friends told their friends, and now I have at least 5 people in line for me to take their senior pictures. Photography isn't a good career to make a good living at though. That's why I'm also looking into psychology. It satisfies my helping people thing, and I am intelligent and dedicated enough to become either a psychologist or psychiatrist. 

I also love to sing. Coming into freshman year, I made it into the top choir at my school through an audition and I've been there ever since. Singing satisfies the spiritual side of me. It's working out... just in a  different way than swimming. Swimming requires my calves and biceps and abs; singing requires my abs and diaphragm and mind. It's so much fun that I can't even begin to explain it. I can't imagine a day I don't sing, and I would hate going into college not also going into a choir. The a capella group would be an awesome attachment to that. I love the way the voices mix together and create harmonies and chords, and I think I'm good enough to be in one. 

Regarding swimming in college - I've always heard that participating in a college sport is fantastic, and I want to experience that firsthand.  Going into college swimming, I don't expect to be at the top of my team and I don't expect to be a gold medal champion at the Olympics. I just want to have a wonderful 4 year experience that will create lasting memories for me to look back on fondly.  However, I would like to better my times, as after college I won't have a chance to ever swim competitvely. 

I will be busy for the rest of my life, as I have been thus far. But that's all a part of the journey to being happy, and I'm willing to sacrifice free time for a life full of everything that I love and am passionate about. All I can say is that I'm so, so excited to experience all the things that come my way.