Lakin McCarthy uses the lessons life has given her to help map out her future

“My life is school, my sorority and staying healthy,” says Lakin McCarthy, laughing as she describes her life, hastily remembering to add sleep to the end of her list.

Sitting in the early afternoon sun in Lake Oswego, McCarthy is the picture of collegiate success, a young woman with the world at her fingertips. With a fashion internship, a handsome boyfriend and a near-encounter with “Project Runway” guru Tim Gunn under her belt, life for this Oregon State University student after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma has been busy.

McCarthy was diagnosed with cancer three weeks before her 18th birthday, at the beginning of her senior year at Lake Oswego High School. It was a diagnosis she partially saw coming.

“I guessed that’s what I had before I was told because I had some of the symptoms. When the doctors told me, my parents were really upset, but I was more like, ‘That’s what I thought.’”

It was a diagnosis that defined the end of her high school career and also McCarthy as a person.

“I finally felt like something set me apart in a way. I always knew that I was different than other people, but this set me apart from everything else,” she said.

Yet, McCarthy hasn’t adopted a cynical attitude in the years after her initial diagnosis.

“It was a challenge I had to face to make my life more enriched,” she said.

Almost three years later, cancer has proven to be a challenge that McCarthy has more than overcome. Through her constant tenacity and positive outlook, McCarthy has turned the mountain of Hodgkin’s lymphoma into a stepping stone on her way to success. From the months of staying at home and recovering from chemotherapy treatments, McCarthy discovered her true passion — fashion.

“Originally I was going to study geology — then I noticed the apparel program (at Oregon State) and that it looked really hard, but the whole time I was sick I had been making a book of the clothes I was going to wear when I got better. The only reason I wasn’t going to do apparel was that I thought I couldn’t. Being sick showed me that I could,” she said.

The switch from geology to design was one that McCarthy recounts with humor, saying she was stuck between rocks and fashion. A self-described “horrible perfectionist,” McCarthy has found her niche at Oregon State, majoring in both apparel design and merchandising with a minor in business entrepreneurship.

“Design is doing clothing start to finish, which I like because it keeps me interested. I think being a survivor has been a benefit because it gives me a perspective that other people don’t have,” she said.

McCarthy uses her experience with cancer not only to form her mental outlook but also the shape and design of her clothes. During treatment, McCarthy gained 40 pounds in three months, the majority of which she has lost since treatment thanks to her renewed health and active lifestyle. Before being diagnosed, McCarthy was an incredibly active individual; a varsity member of Rose City Rowing Club in downtown Portland.

The experience of having three different body types, before she was sick, during treatment and after, has greatly affected McCarthy’s design outlook.

“I have respect for people who are not the standard, average body type because I don’t really believe in average,” she said. “There’s no person with an identical body type, so I want to make clothes that can be tailored to fit all body types.”

Although she describes her current life as living and breathing clothing, McCarthy is also an active member of her sorority at Oregon State, Chi Omega. Originally skeptical of Greek life, McCarthy decided to join “on a whim,” following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother.

Chi Omega has served a dual purpose in McCarthy’s life in Corvallis, simultaneously helping fill the void that rowing left while providing a fun, social environment.

“I can be social but I don’t seek out company all the time. Being forced to live with 50 girls is so much fun because I’m forced to have fun,” she said.

While she glowingly recounts her time in the house and describes her sorority sisters as “friends that unconditionally love each other,” McCarthy said she is also aware of the stigma that being a member of a Greek organization carries.

“You think one thing about a sorority, but you shouldn’t judge it until you’ve been in and hung out without a preconceived notion of what’s going to happen,” she said. “We hang out in our sweats, make cookies together. It’s a party all the time and not in the way you’d think.”

Another added benefit of Chi Omega is its philanthropy partner: the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that McCarthy has been familiar with for years. Her relationship with the organization started when she was a wish beneficiary, traveling to New York City to visit the set of “Project Runway,” where she was able to tour host Heidi Klum’s dressing room (actually just a classroom) and catch a glimpse of style maven Tim Gunn.

McCarthy has remained involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation past her own trip, submitting a piece of artwork for the organization’s Food, Wine and Wishes fundraising auction last fall. McCarthy’s submission, a drawing of a binocular viewfinder looking out at Liberty Island, sold for $2,500.

Continuing her involvment through her sorority, McCarthy’s focus is bringing her experience to Chi Omega.

“I like to bring a personal connection to my sisters — that these are real people that we’re helping,” she said.

Home for the summer with her family in Lake Oswego, McCarthy’s life is as busy as ever. Interning for local designer and fellow cancer survivor Michelle DeCourcy, whom McCarthy describes as a “one-woman company,” she helps with everything from sewing and cutting fabric to adjusting patterns and working on paperwork.

DeCourcy, a family friend, has been a role model for McCarthy for the last several years. “She was there for me when I was sick, and when she was looking for an intern, she called me,” McCarthy said.

DeCourcy, who has been in remission for leukemia for five and a half years, describes McCarthy as “a very happy girl. She just has a real passion for life and for design, and it’s just been a lot of fun having her here.”

“She’s been an absolute joy in the studio. She’s a very forward thinker and very passionate about what she’s doing and not afraid to voice her point of view. She’s a very smart, intelligent girl,” DeCourcy said, adding, “She’s the very salt of the earth.”

McCarthy’s future plans include resuming her studies at Oregon State and planning ahead to a possible study abroad for the fall of 2013 in London.

“I really want to go to (London-based) Central Saint Martins, which is where Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney studied,” she said.

Because Oregon State doesn’t have a connection with Central Saint Martins, McCarthy has to forge her own path overseas.

“I have to show them that this girl going to a school in Oregon has what it takes to study in London,” she said.

To impress the school, McCarthy is currently making a James Bond-inspired suit for her boyfriend to set her apart from other applicants.

“I only have to do a jacket, but he wants pants,” she said. “I want to find a way to rent an Aston Martin, then get (him) to wear some vintage sunglasses.”

Looking past graduation, McCarthy said she aspires to work in New York City.

“I want to work for an established company. I’m not ready to start my own design firm, but that is a long-term goal,” she said. “I have my eye on Pendleton — I just love the fabric. It’s so Oregon.”

Far from a distant memory, her battle with cancer also informs McCarthy’s specific design plans.

“I definitely want to design pieces that are more artistic, commenting on survivorship,” she said, adding that “there are so many people out there who are survivors who you would never know. I have design ideas about how survivors are warriors. I want to make sure that philanthropy is in my business plan.”

To keep up with McCarthy’s latest designs, keep an eye out for new postings on her blog, titled “Always, Lakin,” at alwayslakin.blogspot.com.