I always knew that there is something in these hills that keeps me coming back. Last week, the Princeton Review proved it when they ranked Clemson as No. 3 in “Students Love it Here” and No. 11 in having the “Happiest Students.” But what exactly makes the town of orange a warm, happy yellow? Here’s why Clemson holds a special place in our hearts.
1. The Mascot: The tiger is special because not only is the tiger the symbol of courage and beauty, but also because the tiger is us. We are tigers, and we fight like hell, damn it. We fight for good grades in dreadful chemistry, we fight for everything so that no matter what we’ll always come back better than before.
I think that if you choose Clemson, then you will like the classic feel, and you can’t get any more classic than a tiger. It reminds me of when we were little when someone would say, “Oh what’s your favorite animal?” and 85 percent (statistic by me) of children will likely say a tiger. It’s common, but it’s also above the rest: exactly like we are here at Clemson.
2. Game day: Game day is big in any southern college town, but it’s especially important to us. You wouldn’t see your average Joe at FSU painting his body orange and trying to get the stripes of the tiger perfect. No matter where you are in Death Valley or who you are, you will feel pride because you are in Clemson. People can coin the phrase Clemson-ing all they want, but not the Holy Word which is Bae-shaun Watson. It’s special, and we would all give up our Saturday’s every week of the year if we could see Dabo running down the hill like a kid at Christmas.
3. Library Bridge: I know some people say that they hate it, but deep down we all secretly love Library Bridge. It’s what connects us and makes us unique. Not everyone has a pretty, historical campus like we do where students can walk up grand wooden staircases to go to History class like we can in Hardin.. It’s an honor to walk and to marvel at the beauty that is Clemson.
4. The traditions: I’m a sucker for anything cute and romantic so when I came here freshman year and heard about the tradition that if you walk through the garden with your lover you’ll get married, I almost died. Although I haven’t taken a walk through it yet, I’m hoping it’s coming. There are more common traditions here than finding your Mrs. degree. There is also Solid Orange Friday and other little things that sometimes we take for granted until we leave Clemson.
5. The people: The people here are as kind as you could hope for them to be. One thing about college is you’ll meet a lot of people who will stay in your life forever, and this is the place to meet them. It’s not just friends that you will come to love. The teachers and advisors are also so kind, and I couldn’t imagine college without them.
6. The parties, the crazy moments and the unforgettable experiences: Coming into college, I didn’t know what a darty was, and for freshmen who still don’t, it’s a day party.
I’ve had plenty of crazy moments such as when I carried a suitcase from Cooper all the way to the Quad or when I screamed because a squirrel was approaching me (Warning: squirrels are food, not friends). Then there are the unforgettable experiences like working on The Tiger newspaper with some of my best friends, meeting the ClemsonLIFE students and all of the fireball throw-ups on the hill during night games. (Again warning: The Hill is pure hell during the USC game. You can’t say I didn’t warn you.)
But besides the good, the bad, and the outright nasty, there are so many things that everyone loves about Clemson.
Some people like Tillman’s bells; some people like downtown; and some people specifically came here for Harcombe’s cookies. But the one thing we all have in common is that we’re happy and there’s nowhere else we would rather be.