For Linn Yann Carroll '94, things didn't always come easy.
A Cambodian refugee, she and her family escaped violence and genocide of the Khmer Rouge. But this was only a part of her triumph in the face of language barriers and a new life.
Yann's achievements made for an inspiring story - one that ABC's Wonderful World of Color developed into the 1986 TV film, "The Girl Who Spelled Freedom."
After the Cambodian Civil War ended in 1975, the Khmer Rouge regime came into effect. The regime had set up what is now known as "killing fields." These killing fields had been centers for violence and crimes against humanity that had taken the lives of estimated 1.7 million people. The Khmer Rouge targeted Cambodians from a wide scope of ethnic and religious backgrounds captive, starving and torturing them until they died. The regime rendered the Southeast Asian country in chaos for four years. After losing her father and being held in concentration camps for three years, nine year old Yann and her family were able to escape.
In 1979, Yann moved from her native Cambodia to Chattanooga, Tenn. with her mother and five siblings. Leaving Cambodia meant escaping the harsh concentration camps that she and her family had been living in for three years. Chattanooga offered a stark contrast of environment with modern conveniences, education, and a peaceful democracy. When Yann and her family arrived in the United States, they did not speak English and were greeted at the airport by a host family that did not speak their language. Yann worked quickly to bridge the language barrier and diligently worked on her English in school, at home, and during her free time.
In middle school, Yann memorized how to spell over 3,000 words - enough for her to win the county-wide spelling bee in 1983, which qualified her to compete in the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee. Former President Ronald Reagan even called Yinn after getting news of her large accomplishments - words that kept her going even after "verdigris" eliminated her from the fourth round of the national tournament.
In 1986, when she was fifteen years old, Yann's achievements were recognized on an even grander scale. The Disney film "The Girl Who Spelled Freedom" aired on television. Based on Yann's life, the movie traced back her story to Cambodia where sets and film crews could not replicate the horrors she had gone through for their audience. The movie, which premiered on ABC's Sunday evening programming, retold her story of how she came to the United States, learned English, and made her way to the National Spelling Bee.
Yann brought her impressive talents to DePauw in 1990, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communcation.
Jeff McCall, professor of communication, expressed that she was the kind of student every professor loved to have: energetic, hardworking, and involved--the true image of a DePauw student. During her time here, Yann participated in WGRE and was very active in the communications department. She was extremely well-rounded, engaged, and had a strong handle on things.
Professor Steve Timm had Yann for Theater History and remembered how her story impacted her through a class discussion.
"[She] didn't wear her stories as an outward identity--it was a very private thing."
McCall said that Yann didn't forget her past but also didn't let it define her. "Linn [Yann Carroll] wasn't one to disengage from her past," McCall said. " I don't think most students really knew what she had been through--they couldn't ever understand the extent to what she had gone through."