If one was to ask Clemson graduates or upperclassmen about why Clemson is such an amazing university, somewhere in most of their answers would be a mention of Clemson’s overwhelming school spirit and student involvement.
That was certainly the most recurring detail I heard about Clemson before I came here. Were this same question posed to new students, however, I believe that there would not be such a consensus.
As a first-year student myself, I certainly would not have raved about school spirit or involvement had I been asked this question last semester; I had heard such fantastic things about Clemson, yet did not have the experience that I expected. As I have come to realize, my dull experience was not the university’s fault, but mine.
I had been waiting for the amazing things I’d heard about to bestow themselves upon me instead of actively seeking them myself.
Being the Online Content Director at The Tiger has been one of my most enjoyable experiences at Clemson; I work with an amazing group of people and we all try to inform and entertain the Clemson student body as best we can. It has been in my contributions to the university that I found myself as amazed with Clemson and its students as all of the graduates I’ve talked to over the years.
However, I feel that many other students, especially newer students, do not have such positive opinions of Clemson, and I believe it is because they are in similar positions to my first-semester younger self. They are either waiting for all of the brilliant things they’ve heard about to appear or they’re pursuing involvement with groups and activities on campus for fun without much thought to what these clubs actually do.
The latter of these issues may in fact be the more prevalent; rushing and joining clubs with nothing in mind but personal gain is a certain way to limit what one can get out of being involved on campus, including to how that involvement might be received by employers or internship pursuits.
You’re even likely to fall into something you’re passionate about.
There’s often more to being a part of a Clemson club than just enjoying yourself. You have a chance to be a part of impactful service projects, community outreach, and meaningful volunteer work. You get the chance to expand the idea of the Clemson Family to include the ways we improve and build up the entire Clemson community.
Being part of a collection of people who strive to serve the student body at large or help to improve Clemson as a university reveals just how brilliant Clemson University and its students are.
Ask not what Clemson can do for you.
Ask what you can do for Clemson.