The Interviews

More information is found in the interviews with Clemson students. The following interviews involve these students: Krystal Bockting, a Clemson Animal Science major and graduate from Virginia, Matthew Hicks, a Engineering student from Georgia, and Madison Butler, a History major and Religious Studies minor who was born in South Carolina but lived most of her life in Florida. Between these three students, several themes between them that helped determined their decision to attend Clemson, and their reasons for staying may not be the same reasons. Any other points will be brought up separately, as they can be other possible considerations students bring up that, though they do not appear widely among the three, still reveal things students look for in schools and have found in Clemson.

To gain a proper understanding of the interviewees, several questions were asked about their backgrounds.

Krystal Bockting came from a poor community of people her age that attended in-state colleges for the lower tuition. She was applying to colleges around the time the Virginia Tech shooting occurred and was naturally inclined to avoid that school because of it. She was used to bigger cities like DC and Alexandria and remarked how much she disliked them and the rude people who lived there. Her experience with South Carolina came from her brother being stationed in Sumter but is limited to Charleston and Myrtle Beach, not so much the upstate. Krystal initially learned about Clemson through her college advisor in high school.

Matthew Hicks grew up in a fairly liberal suburban area near Atlanta. His family travelled often to several spots in South Carolina like Hilton Head, Fort Lauderdale, and St. Augustine. He first learned of Clemson during a college trip through several southeast colleges. He is currently attending his fourth year at Clemson and is slated to graduate in 2020 due to his major change.

Madison Butler grew up originally in Greenville, South Carolina, left when she was thirteen for Tampa, Florida. She lived there until she began studying at Converse University in Spartanburg near her extended family. She mentioned how she often visited South Carolina during the summer to see her grandparents, so she was familiar with South Carolina throughout her life. When asked where she considers home, Madison said Greenville and its mountains would always be home for her. Madison is currently a second semester junior due to her transfers and is currently expecting to graduate winter 2019.

Their thoughts on Clemson and the bulk of the research is mentioned in the following themes section.