Cheyenne Mountain High School senior Evangeline McFarland once made a mistake. The sort of mistake that could derail her entire high school golf career. She’d miscounted her strokes, marking one less on the 18th hole. Her best-ever round, a milestone she’d been working toward for years, was wrong.  

“I felt like I had let down every person who worked with me to get here,” McFarland said. “Tears burned in my eyes as I messaged my golf coach. He explained the scores had already been finalized … this was a serious issue.” 

McFarland had taken up golf to cope with the stress of living in Germany on an American military base, as friends came and went, and nothing was familiar. McFarland’s confidence was shattered, but instead of letting herself be overcome, she shared the experience with her teammates and found not condemnation but understanding and acceptance.  

McFarland was made team captain later in the season and learned then that leadership is not about perfection but about how you handle imperfection. The experience had been hard, but she’d grown as a person, teammate and leader. 

McFarland plans on attending Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service to major in International Political Economy. A deep passion for policy and social issues was stirred when she participated in her first debate tournament. The topic was guaranteed housing, and McFarland’s opponent argued that people didn’t have the right to housing.  

“The statistics on my page became people,” McFarland said. “With each data point I saw the growing unhoused population in my hometown, and my disgust at the lack of empathy grew.” 

McFarland threw herself into researching global issues like the disenfranchisement of minorities and found that her passion for policy could easily be coupled with her other passion: mathematics. 

“Being able to analyze the quantitative causes of social issues was the perfect way to join my passions,” McFarland said. “Economic shifts impact class behavior, and a census can impact resource distraction. I knew my life’s goal was to make people’s lives better through creating human-driven global policy.” 

McFarland has already made huge strides along this path by participating in a volunteer group to redefine the mission and values of Cheyenne Mountain School District 12. 

“I worked with a committee of nurses, teachers and administrators and we each came in with different priorities,” McFarland said. “I wanted to reduce pressure on students while others focused on maintaining academic standards and rigor.” 

McFarland dedicated herself to facilitating productive conversations and saw that the inclusion of varied viewpoints was necessary for meaningful change.  

“This new environment has effectively addressed the fundamental issues at our school and students have seen significant change,” McFarland said. “While the new direction is not a perfect solution, I took the first step to prioritize the student over the grade, making my school a better place for everyone.” 

In Germany, McFarland founded the country’s first female Scout Troop, which she said became an integral part of her identity. Parents were at first shocked that their daughters could have the same experience as their sons. McFarland is proud that she started so many of those girls on a path of community service and personal growth. 

As her own path widens going into university, McFarland says she looks forward to being part of a positive, fundamental change in the world where basic human needs—food, shelter, healthcare, and schooling are met worldwide. 

“I know that my life’s goal is to make people’s lives better through creating human-driven global policy,” McFarland said. “There’s nothing more fulfilling than making a positive change for others.”