He only packed one change of clothes.

When freshman Lowell Oakley traveled five hours to Washington, D.C., to audition for NBC’s “The Voice,” he was expecting the trip to be a one-day affair.

So when he got a callback three days later, he had to bring in reinforcements. His mom brought clothes from their home in Durham to the nation’s capital, where Oakley and thousands of others were waiting for a chance at stardom.

“She brought me a suit,” Oakley said. “I did well at the callback and a little this, a little that, and now we’re here. Now we’re Team Pharrell.”

Almost nine months later, Oakley’s friends and classmates watched him on TV as he joined Pharrell’s team on season eight of “The Voice.”

Three days after his last high school exam, Oakley and his friend drove more than four hours from Durham to Washington, D.C., for “The Voice” open call auditions.

“I kind of wanted to try something crazy,” Oakley said.

At that audition, 45,000 people stood in line for the chance of a lifetime. While his friends celebrated graduation at the beach, Oakley was waiting for his turn to sing.

When he was younger, Oakley and his family watched shows like “The Voice” and “American Idol.” Oakley thought he could make it and decided to take a leap of faith.

Oakley’s grandfather shared some words of wisdom to help Oakley survive the day: “Success is often created in inconvenience.”

His words certainly applied to the situation.

“This was super inconvenient,” Oakley said. “I didn’t want to work, I just wanted to play.”

A well-kept secret

Oakley couldn’t tell anyone what he was up to in the fall of 2014, his first semester at Elon University. Every two weeks, he left his college life for a secret trip to Los Angeles to film “The Voice.”

“It was hard,” Oakley said. “You’re trying to focus on creating some friendships, you’re not really trying to focus on this other crazy thing that is happening that you have to be quiet about.”

His new friends could only speculate about what was going on. One freshman, William Henderson, said it took him a while to piece things together before he finally guessed correctly.

“I just couldn’t tell anyone,” Henderson said.

Despite the constant traveling, Oakley managed to immerse himself into Elon culture by becoming a member of all-male a cappella group Rip_Chord.

“I was thinking of going Greek, but there’s no way I can juggle ‘The Voice’ and being in a fraternity,” Oakley said. “But an all-male a cappella group — it’s a brotherhood whether it’s Greek or not.”

Because Oakley had to keep his involvement in “The Voice” quiet, it was difficult to explain why he consistently missed Rip_Chord practices.

Senior Jacob Light, a member of Rip_Chord, said Oakley’s excuses were more vague than the group wanted, but they had heard rumors of him being on “The Voice,” so they deemed the absences acceptable.

“When he’s going to California for weeks at a time his freshman year, he’s missing things, and his passion is music, and you hear whispers,” Light said. “When he put [“The Voice”] cover photo up, all of us were super excited for him.”

Keeping one foot on the ground

The first memory Light has of Oakley is his passionate audition for Rip_Chord and his callback.

“You could see a sense of urgency in his eyes that he needed to learn the music we were giving him,” Light said. “He is the kind of talent you don’t see. He’s unfathomable. There’s no talent like him.”

Light believes Oakley can stay personable and genuine, despite his celebrity status.

“It couldn’t happen to a better person,” Light said. “He’s so humble, and he’s so genuine that when you hang around him you don’t think this is a celebrity. He’s like any other kid.”

Henderson refers to him as a “pretty boy.”

“He’s a great person, he’s got great character, but he’s also very concerned with his appearance,” Henderson said. “He has an image to upkeep, and I understand that.”

Although Oakley gets constant questions about Pharrell and the competition, he tries to avoid the spotlight that comes with discussing the show to keep his Elon experience as normal as possible.

“It gets to the point where I don’t want to be there to be hanging out with Lowell the celebrity, because he was just Lowell my friend first,” Light said.

Making a choice

Oakley’s family flew to Los Angeles to watch his blind audition before the judges. They were there for support, but he said that brought more pressure.

“What if you go all the way over there and don’t turn a chair?” Oakley said.

As he was singing, both Pharrell and Adam Levine spun their chairs around, leaving Oakley with a tough decision.

He was speechless when Levine compared him to Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. But when Pharrell said, “You’re not the same, you’re different, you’re other,” Oakley knew he had to go with him.

“I went back and forth in my head so many times trying to figure out who to go with,” Oakley said. “Initially, I was thinking my first pick would be Adam because he’s a lot like me. Or rather, I’m a lot like this legend. I try to be.”

Oakley even admitted that his favorite song to sing in the shower is Maroon 5’s “Sugar.” But even though he was a fan, he decided to go with Pharrell.

Oakley has followed Pharrell since he worked with Justin Timberlake, Oakley’s idol, and is drawn to his image and creativity.

“Pharrell comes out with this stuff that sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before,” Oakley said. “If I can work with something like that, I thought that would make me a better human being. I thought that would take my soul to a whole new level.”

Light agrees with Pharrell’s description of Oakley.

“It’s to a point where it’s special,” Light said. “I’ve seen people who can replicate others, I’ve seen people who can train to become like another person, but I’ve never seen somebody who’s so raw and unique that they’re not copying and trying to be like someone else. It’s an entirely new genre.”

Henderson agrees that Oakley’s talent is unique and said he has the potential to make it all the way.

“He’s got a very mature voice for his age that you don’t find in a lot of kids,” Henderson said. “He’s really got something special.”

Oakley was more nervous for his performance at the Make-A-Wish Benefit Concert hosted by Vital Signs Feb. 21 than he had been for the blind audition for “The Voice.” People knew who he was and had high expectations for his singing.

Oakley is a perfectionist, which helped him develop his vocal style.

“I like things a certain way, but when I’m singing it just allows me to relax a little,” he said.

“The Voice” has been emotionally draining, but something Pharrell said has become Oakley’s mantra as he continues: “Stop thinking about things and let it go and do your best. Focus and let it go.”

Oakley is thankful for this opportunity and his gift of music. This experience has also helped him pick his major. He had been considering either business or music, but Oakley is now fully devoted to his music path.

“It’s one thing when your high school music teacher tells you you can sing,” Oakley said. “It’s a whole other thing when Pharrell and Adam Levine are telling you this to your face, in person. It’s wild.”