Top Of The Class
By Gavin Keefe , Day Sports Writer
TO SAY DECAROL DAVIS IS AMBITIOUS would be a major understatement. “I want to change the world, not just here,” Davis said.
Davis is actively involved in searching out ways to better the world at Coast Guard Academy and beyond, deftly juggling her military responsibilities, academic workload, athletics and outside projects.
And people are taking notice.
Davis, a junior, has received two prestigious awards. The Coast Guard Academy announced Wednesday that Davis has been selected as the 2007 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year by Diverse Issues in Higher Education, beating out more than 600 student-athletes. She also recently received the Academy's first Truman Scholar honor.
“It's a very, very big deal,” said Davis, who is from Woodbridge, Va. “I'm just humbled by the fact I received these awards. I'm excited and happy to represent the Coast Guard.”
Davis, a Rhodes Scholar representative, plays on the women's basketball team. She averaged 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds while starting all 26 games last season. She credits her parents — father DeQuincey, a retired Marine, and mother Carolyn, a media specialist — for instilling in her proper values and a big-picture view of the world. She also appreciates the support received from her teachers and advisers at the academy.
These numbers are more impressive: Davis is ranked first in the junior class of 237 cadets and owns a 3.95 grade-point average as an electrical engineering major. She also was the class president in each of her first two years. She's received numerous academic honors and is on the Commandant Cadet's List for Military Excellence, earning the Commandant's Undergraduate Award.
“DeCarol Davis has more energy and enthusiasm than I've ever seen,” said CGA superintendent, Rear Admiral J. Scott Burhoe, in a released statement. “Her blend of intellect, integrity, physical fitness and character reflects the very best of the Coast Guard Academy. We are all very proud of her.”
Davis is still adding to her growing list of accomplishments.
One of her projects revolves around establishing a recycling program. She helped start the Cadet Sustainability Club two years ago in an attempt to make the cadet environment greener, taking time to do extensive research and contacting base facilities about getting receptacles.
“We didn't have a recycling program,” Davis said. “It really kind of frustrated me. ... The hardest part is changing the culture and not being so lazy and (getting people to) break away from their daily routine.
“In terms of the environment, it's important for us to know how we interact affects other people. That's one of my strongest reasons for engaging in environmentalism.”
Davis is making inroads. But her work isn't finished.
She's always finding another challenge, another project to tackle.
For example, last year while volunteering at a local elementary school, Davis noticed a little boy building Legos in the corner during an academic fair.
“He was making amazing things,” Davis said. “I went up to him and said, 'This is awesome. Do you want to be an engineer?'”
When the boy said no, she asked if he knew what an engineer is.
“No, I just know that I can't be one,” the boy answered.
That's when the creative wheels starting spinning inside her head.
“It was horrible and disheartening,” Davis recalled. “I felt that it was my responsibility not to say you have to be an engineer but to give all the children hope they can be anything and they don't have to be limited based upon resources.”
Davis devised an interesting, fun and kid-friendly program to get her message across: She wrote a play. Last summer she worked from sunrise to sunset for one week, building a set made of plywood blocks.
The curtain went up on her play in November at Winthrop Elementary School in New London.
“It was a success,” Davis said. “I was so nervous. The Cadet Drama Club worked with me and we had a bunch of volunteers. We had a robot from the mechanical engineering department.”
Her time at the academy will run out long before completing her limitless list of ideas to change the world. Her recycling program is still in its early stages. She'd like cadets to be more actively involved in the community. She suggests planting trees and flowers. Clean water is another concern of hers.
“I guess they call me idealistic and naïve,” Davis said. “I consider it a strength. I don't stop.”
g.keefe@theday.com or 701-4393
New London
By Gavin Keefe , Day Sports Writer
TO SAY DECAROL DAVIS IS AMBITIOUS would be a major understatement. “I want to change the world, not just here,” Davis said.
Davis is actively involved in searching out ways to better the world at Coast Guard Academy and beyond, deftly juggling her military responsibilities, academic workload, athletics and outside projects.
And people are taking notice.
Davis, a junior, has received two prestigious awards. The Coast Guard Academy announced Wednesday that Davis has been selected as the 2007 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year by Diverse Issues in Higher Education, beating out more than 600 student-athletes. She also recently received the Academy's first Truman Scholar honor.
“It's a very, very big deal,” said Davis, who is from Woodbridge, Va. “I'm just humbled by the fact I received these awards. I'm excited and happy to represent the Coast Guard.”
Davis, a Rhodes Scholar representative, plays on the women's basketball team. She averaged 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds while starting all 26 games last season. She credits her parents — father DeQuincey, a retired Marine, and mother Carolyn, a media specialist — for instilling in her proper values and a big-picture view of the world. She also appreciates the support received from her teachers and advisers at the academy.
These numbers are more impressive: Davis is ranked first in the junior class of 237 cadets and owns a 3.95 grade-point average as an electrical engineering major. She also was the class president in each of her first two years. She's received numerous academic honors and is on the Commandant Cadet's List for Military Excellence, earning the Commandant's Undergraduate Award.
“DeCarol Davis has more energy and enthusiasm than I've ever seen,” said CGA superintendent, Rear Admiral J. Scott Burhoe, in a released statement. “Her blend of intellect, integrity, physical fitness and character reflects the very best of the Coast Guard Academy. We are all very proud of her.”
Davis is still adding to her growing list of accomplishments.
One of her projects revolves around establishing a recycling program. She helped start the Cadet Sustainability Club two years ago in an attempt to make the cadet environment greener, taking time to do extensive research and contacting base facilities about getting receptacles.
“We didn't have a recycling program,” Davis said. “It really kind of frustrated me. ... The hardest part is changing the culture and not being so lazy and (getting people to) break away from their daily routine.
“In terms of the environment, it's important for us to know how we interact affects other people. That's one of my strongest reasons for engaging in environmentalism.”
Davis is making inroads. But her work isn't finished.
She's always finding another challenge, another project to tackle.
For example, last year while volunteering at a local elementary school, Davis noticed a little boy building Legos in the corner during an academic fair.
“He was making amazing things,” Davis said. “I went up to him and said, 'This is awesome. Do you want to be an engineer?'”
When the boy said no, she asked if he knew what an engineer is.
“No, I just know that I can't be one,” the boy answered.
That's when the creative wheels starting spinning inside her head.
“It was horrible and disheartening,” Davis recalled. “I felt that it was my responsibility not to say you have to be an engineer but to give all the children hope they can be anything and they don't have to be limited based upon resources.”
Davis devised an interesting, fun and kid-friendly program to get her message across: She wrote a play. Last summer she worked from sunrise to sunset for one week, building a set made of plywood blocks.
The curtain went up on her play in November at Winthrop Elementary School in New London.
“It was a success,” Davis said. “I was so nervous. The Cadet Drama Club worked with me and we had a bunch of volunteers. We had a robot from the mechanical engineering department.”
Her time at the academy will run out long before completing her limitless list of ideas to change the world. Her recycling program is still in its early stages. She'd like cadets to be more actively involved in the community. She suggests planting trees and flowers. Clean water is another concern of hers.
“I guess they call me idealistic and naïve,” Davis said. “I consider it a strength. I don't stop.”
g.keefe@theday.com or 701-4393
New London