By
Sean Carnell
Hey Tigers! This is our
first of a series of blog posts from our T4T members & fans about their
college days.
Carrah Lingo, our
Communication’s Associate, joined the National Tigers for Tigers Coalition in
April 2014 and is now working full-time with us. Carrah
graduated from Clemson University with a B.A. in Communication Studies and a
minor in Social Sciences in May 2014. If you can ever find Carrah on Game day
at Clemson, she is definitely a tiger at heart!
“As a former Clemson Tiger,
I feel a sense of responsibility to do something to save our mascot from
extinction. It means a lot to me to be a Clemson Tiger, but it wouldn't mean
anything if they didn't exist,” said Carrah.
Carrah and I sit down to
chat about Tigers for Tigers and her experiences.
S: Before we get start
talking about Tigers for Tigers, let’s start with a couple of rapid-fire
questions… Describe your college experience in three words:
C: Two, Clemson goodnight
S: What is your favorite
restaurant in Clemson?
C: LOOSE CHANGE.
S: If you could re-live one
of your college experiences again, what would that be?
C: Spring break #pcb2k13
S: What was your hardest
class in college and why?
C: Accounting. It’s the
whole reason I changed my minor from pre-business to social sciences. I ended
up withdrawing, so does that still count?
S: Awesome! Ok, now we can
move on to more questions about Tigers for Tigers. How did you get involved in
the club?
C: I stumbled across the
Tigers for Tigers table at Tiger Prowl, an annual organizations fair at
Clemson. I wasn't really aware of the situation our mascot was in and shock
value really got to me. The students were genuine and you could tell they cared
about the issue. The second semester I went on trip with Clemson Tigers for
Tigers to the big cat sanctuary CFAR (Central Florida Animal Reserve) and got hooked! When I returned, I ran for Public
Relations officer and got the position. Senior year I was proud to call myself
president for a club that worked so hard for a cause that means so much to our
university.
S: Many of our students are
pursuing wildlife or biology degrees. But you were a Communications Studies
major. What was that experience like for you?
C: It was definitely a
little intimidating to join such a science and conservation based organization.
I found a way to incorporate my social media and writing skills to generate
more outreach and awareness for the club, which is very important.
When you're trying to
fundraise or raise awareness for such an important cause it's vital to utilize
social media outlets and your campus resources. The more attention we get, the
more people know about our cause. The more people who know about Tigers for
Tigers, the better chance we have of saving tigers!
Tigers for Tigers is a club
that gives you chance to stand out and use your strengths to grow the
organization. Not a lot of on-campus organizations give you this freedom, and
not a lot of on-campus organizations have students who are as passionate about
the cause as students in Tigers for Tigers are.
S: What advice do you have
for aspiring T4T leaders and members about T4T opportunities?
C: Tigers for Tigers is
such a unique movement. You get real world experience working with students
across the country to save an endangered species from going extinct. You're
making a difference before you even graduate college. Whether you're interested
in wildlife conservation, or marketing, if Tigers for Tigers is something you
truly care about, put everything you have into it. You will be making the most
important investment for your future career.
I genuinely enjoy working
for the Coalition and its partners. It's not easy to find a job directly out of
college today, but Tigers for Tigers provided me with the opportunity to pursue
a career I'm interested in and for that I am so grateful!
I see amazing things in the
near future for Tigers for Tigers. We have an awesome team of professionals
ranging from the conservation world, to the marketing world who are such great
assets to our organization. We're working together to rally "tigers"
across the country to save our tigers in the wild, and we're committed to
making T4T as successful as possible.
I’m proud to have Carrah on
our team. She is a pleasure to work with, always full of great ideas, and I’m
privileged that we can provide her with the opportunity to pursue her career
goals and gain experience through T4T.
Go Tigers!
Sean Carnell
National Coordinator
NT4TC
No comments:
Post a Comment