Hello Class of 2030, and welcome to Clemson!

My name is Ava Mae Yates, and I am a senior economics major from Pawling, New York. I am extremely blessed to be the news editor for The Tiger.

I’m sure you’ve already been bombarded with countless clichés about college, and I’m not going to tell you how to interpret them. What I will say is this: it’s okay to be multidimensional.

During the first semester, you will likely introduce yourself with your name, hometown and major dozens of times. Your feelings and identity, however, do not have to fit into a neat little box or list of attributes.

Your academic major does not define how smart or capable you are. Whether you are the one or the one hundredth student from your high school attending Clemson, you are more than just a number.

There are so many talents and passions you have brought with you to Clemson, and so many more that you will explore. Allow yourself to experience everything you can.

Here, in this little town in the foothills of the Appalachians, you will discover the fierce love of the Clemson Family. What you give to this community, you will receive back tenfold.

Joe Sherman, class of ‘34, summed up the Clemson experience succinctly in his 1969 essay.

“There is something in these hills that brings together and binds together and holds together men and women of all persuasions, of all heights, sizes, weights, and cultural backgrounds — something that cuts across every difference, spans every gap, penetrates every wall — something that makes a man or a woman stand taller, feel better and say with a high pride to all within earshot, ‘I went to Clemson.’”

Welcome home. We’re so happy that you’re here.

Ava Mae Yates is a senior economics major from Pawling, New York. Ava Mae can be reached at [email protected].