Why I Became A Tiger.

(Left to Right:) Me and my sister Mandy

From the title of my blog it is pretty obvious that you will be reading about my experience as a student at Clemson University in beautiful Clemson, South Carolina. Before I start blogging my heart out about why you want to be a tiger too, I want to give you some basic facts about me and tell you why I chose to call Clemson home the next few years.

1. My name is Hope Snipes and I am a sophomore at Clemson University.

2. I am originally from Camden, South Carolina.

3. I am currently undeclared and applying to the Communication Studies major!

4. Both of my parents are Clemson graduates and my sister will be a graduate in May!


You may wonder why I chose to become a Tiger. Well, it wasn't an easy decision. I thought that I had outgrown small town life and I wanted to attend college in the big city of Charleston. Charleston is a beautiful city on the coast of South Carolina full of historic buildings and sites. In addition to wanting to live the high life in Charleston, I wanted to make a move that would surprise my parents and allow me to step out of my older sister's shadow. She was a sophomore at Clemson when I was applying to schools and Clemson was the last place I wanted to go. However, to appease my parents, I applied. I received my acceptance letters for the other two schools I applied to and my parents were biting their nails waiting to hear from Clemson. When the large white envelope arrived they knew I had been accepted, but they waited patiently for me to return from volleyball practice to open it. I opened the envelope, read my letter of acceptance, and then casually threw the papers on the counter. I told my parents I was still headed to Charleston in the fall and they were devastated. We argued about it for hours, but I had made up my mind.

Then one weekend during the spring of my senior year my sister, Mandy, invited me to stay with her for the weekend. I was coaching a 12's volleyball tournament that weekend in the area so I figured why not? I cannot describe to you how much fun I had with my sister that weekend. I met her sorority sisters, went out to Monterrey's (a delicious hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant), and shared a lot of laughs. After this weekend, our relationship changed. We were so much closer. Driving out of the Horseshoe on Sunday I had tears in my eyes and I couldn't imagine being on the opposite side of the state from my sister. When I got home I walked into the kitchen and my mom asked me about my weekend. I told her that I had a great time, but I was very vague about the details. As I was walking out of the kitchen I stopped, turned around, and said "Oh, yeah. I'm going to Clemson in the fall." My parents were so excited for me. To this day they haven't questioned what changed my mind. All they cared about was that now my blood ran orange.