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As the staff distributed the yearbook for the 2023-24 academic year to students and staff across campus, editor-in-chief Coral Clark ’25 said the book pushes the bounds of past volumes through its unique design and focus on the community outside the limits of ���ϲ�����’s campus.

The theme and title of the book, “Carolina,” was devised by the yearbook staff with a goal of depicting the impact ���ϲ����� students have on the community around them, as well as the impact the surrounding community has on the student body.

Clark drew inspiration for the title of the book from Taylor Swift’s song “Carolina” from the movie “Where the Crawdads Sing.”

“I’m pretty sure I literally Googled ‘Taylor Swift song titles’ because I was like, ‘I want something short, I want something to the point, I just need inspiration of words or themes or ideas,’” Clark said.

As she listened intently to the lyrics, Clark soon realized the song seemed to perfectly sum up the college experience.

“The song highlights the juxtaposition of loneliness and independence, curiosity and fear, and the gentleness and cruelty of the world,” Clark wrote in the Letter from the Editor at the beginning of the book. “These themes resonated with our journey into college during a scary and unfamiliar time.”

These feelings of freedom and independence can be seen through the lyrics, “Carolina knows / Why for years I roam / Free as these birds, light as whispers / Carolina knows.”

The commonality of these emotions among most college students also touched on another aspect of the theme: community.

“Everyone calls it the ‘���ϲ����� bubble,’ which I hate,” Clark said. “Yes, we are in a bubble, but the whole point of studying abroad, getting out in the community, ���ϲ����� Volunteers, and reading to and tutoring kids, is to [involve ourselves] in the community. We’re in the Carolina community.”

Visually, Clark and the design team incorporated the theme by including an ���ϲ����� street map inside the cover of the book and an ���ϲ����� topographical map on the front and back. The cover also features a finger-print like texture, which Clark said is meant to represent ���ϲ�����’s hands on impact on the community.

Additionally, each section divider incorporates elements of the community by featuring photos of plants and animals seen around ���ϲ����� and North Carolina. For example, acorns and the leaves of an oak tree are pictured on the fall divider, and the Cardinal, North Carolina’s state bird, can be seen on the spring divider.

Clark said she is extremely happy with how the book turned out, and believes it will be a long-standing record of a significant year at ���ϲ�����.

“It’s so important nowadays to have something tangible that you can look back on so that when you move away from ���ϲ����� and away from this community, it’s not something that just lives on your computer,” Clark said. “It’s something that you will always have and you can always look back on.”