Humans of Trine: Ashlynn McCall

By: Sadie Woodruff 

Ashlynn McCall is regarded as a social media queen. Over 16,000 followers keep up with her life on Instagram, with an additional 11,000 on TikTok. The freshman took a gap year and is now majoring in communications here at Trine, along with being a member of the figure skating team. She loves being actively involved in social media, even though it hasn’t always been easy.

“Social media is something I’ve always been interested in,” McCall said, “It was really difficult in the beginning to try and build up a substantial base of followers. Not only was there that difficulty, but school became really rough for me as well. Other kids at school thought what I was doing was pathetic, and I used to get food thrown at me every day at lunch. I eventually just skipped lunch because I knew what each day would bring. I thought of switching schools, but ultimately there wasn’t enough time for it to be worth it.”

Ashlynn pushed on, and it became apparent that it was worth it. She started scoring brand deals and making a lot of new friends through the platforms. After tagging along with a fellow prospective skater to the Trine University Varsity Skating Team College Skating Weekend, annual event, she decided it may be a good opportunity for her to go back to school and continue her education. 

The July event gave her enough time to decide that she really wanted to go back to school, and Trine University seemed like the perfect place for her. 

“I could really picture myself thriving on the campus along with in class and on the ice. It seemed like all of the stars were aligning,” McCall said.

Even though stars were aligning, it didn’t mean that everything would be amazing right off the bat. Ashlynn has been loving her classes, but schooling reminds her of all of the bullying she used to receive back in high school.

“I think it’s really cool what Ashlynn is doing; she really uses her platform for good,” Junior teammate Lily Walker said, “She had to overcome all of these obstacles, and here she is starting school again and rocking it.”

“I’ve really found my home here. I’ve met so many amazing people and have had the opportunity to change the content on my platforms by introducing college life into it,” McCall said.

Ashlynn plans to continue producing content while at school and would like to eventually get a masters in film and move out to Los Angeles to become a part of the film industry.

You can follow her life on Instagram @itsashlynnmarie and on TikTok @trashlynnmarie.