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Welcome back to Auburn Ed Talks, the official podcast of Auburn University’s College of Education.
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Recorded in the Pratt Family Media Production Room in our College of Education Building, this podcast spotlights the people, ideas and innovations shaping the future of education and beyond.
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Today, we're stepping outside the classroom and into one of Auburn's most recognizable traditions.
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Two College of Education students who serve as Directors of Aubie are joining us to share what it's like helping lead one of the most celebrated mascot programs in the nation: from game days and special appearances to the leadership lessons learned along the way.
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And joining us in the studio is Auburn's most famous tiger himself, Aubie! While Aubie won't actually be speaking on today's episode, we're told he's never had trouble being the center of attention.
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And with two of his directors here on set with him, they'll help us translate.
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So, let’s get to talkin’!
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Hi everyone.
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I'm Abby Siddon and I am a Student Ambassador for the College of Education, and I'm so excited to host today's conversation.
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Joining me today are College of Ed students, Brantley and Cloie, who serve as Directors of Aubie and help oversee the most recognizable mascot program in the country.
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And of course, we are joined today by Aubie, our favorite tiger.
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Thank you guys for joining us today.
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Thanks for having us.
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We're so excited. So excited.
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Okay.
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Well, before we jump in, I'd love for our listeners to get to know you guys a little bit better.
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Brantley, tell us about your Auburn journey and what led you to the College of Education.
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So, I was actually born and raised in Auburn.
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I grew up here my whole life.
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I'm a fourth generation Auburn student on one side and a third generation Auburn student on the other side of my family.
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So it runs deep. Very proud of it.
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But I actually started out as a Music Education major.
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I had some really impactful teachers in high school and in elementary school through that, and I loved that program so much.
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But I found my passion a little bit more in elementary education, and so I'm very excited to be able to carry on that legacy.
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My grandmother was a teacher, and so it's really something I look forward to.
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That's so awesome. Cloie, what about you?
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Yeah, honestly, a little bit similar.
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I'm not from the Auburn area.
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I'm from the Wiregrass area, but, I am a third generation Auburn student.
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My grandmother was a teacher, so she was super, super excited about me going into education.
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And I mean, genuinely, I love just like seeing kids get excited to learn.
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And it just it brings you such joy. So. Yeah.
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Yeah. That's so awesome.
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And, Aubie, we already know quite a bit about you, but do you think that you could tell us something that we might not know, like your morning routine, a favorite hobby, perhaps your favorite podcast?
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I think his favorite podcast would definitely have to be this one.
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I think this may be one of the only podcasts Aubie has ever been on.
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Wow, that is really exciting, I love it.
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Well, it's true that the Auburn family knows Aubie very well, but not everyone knows what a Director of Aubie does.
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Could you guys explain to us a little bit about your responsibilities and what your roles look like behind the scenes?
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Yeah, so there's four students who do what we do.
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We are just two of the Directors of Aubie, which is so exciting.
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And we just get to -- my role specifically this year, I get to help with his schedule, which is super exciting because I get to know where Aubie’s going all the time, and it's super fun to get to talk to those people.
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But Cloie can talk a little bit about what the other girls do.
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Yeah, so the rest of us, we do -- kind of split everything up in a group.
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So, we have Aubie Claus.
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We have our Aubie Calendar that we do every year.
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Aubie’s a very busy tiger, and he goes a lot of places.
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So, the four of us also, like, split up all the appearances that he takes.
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But yeah, it's a lot of fun just getting to do a lot of the behind the scenes and just seeing, like, what it takes to to bring all the stuff that Aubie does to life.
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Yeah. That's so cool.
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So what was your guys’ reaction when you first learned that you'd have the opportunity to help lead Aubie as a Director?
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Oh my gosh, I, like, freaked out.
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I wish y’all could see the video.
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Someone was like, “Aubie’s at your front door!” I was like,
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“No, he's not, he's not there.” But he was there and it was literally like the best day of my life.
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Yeah.
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I mean, I truly did not know what I was getting myself into.
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I mean, I've been around Aubie my whole life, and so has Cloie.
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And just seeing him, like, show up at my dorm freshman year, I was like, this is like, not real.
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Like, I can't believe this is happening.
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So, it's been the best.
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Nice.
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So, why do you guys think that people can connect with Aubie so strongly?
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I think that one of the things that means the most is like even seeing, like, away teams, like, they'll be like, “Yeah, like, we don't love Auburn.
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But, like we love Aubie.” Like, nobody can not love Aubie.
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Like he and himself is just above everything, in my opinion.
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And so his actions speak louder than words, as we all see.
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And so I think that's one reason why people connect with them, is Aubie is never going to meet a stranger.
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He always is going to love who he sees.
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Yeah. Nice.
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Many people see Aubie only at games or events, but they don't always realize how much preparation goes into each of the appearances.
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Could you guys walk us through what happens behind the scenes before Aubie arrives at the events?
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So, as a Director of Scheduling, I get to kind of coordinate with everyone who requests Aubie.
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He is a very busy tiger.
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He gets to go to a lot of different events, so just kind of letting people know whether or not it fits into his schedule, and we're so excited when it does.
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And then just letting them know when he's going to get there, figuring out how he's going to get there, which one of us is going to take him.
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And, so, it's super fun to just kind of get to coordinate all those little details.
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Nice.
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Your role requires a tremendous amount of leadership and teamwork.
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What are some of the biggest lessons that you've learned so far about leadership as serving as a Director of Aubie?
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It's definitely one of those, you know, you can't control everything.
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You have to be able to, you know, be a leader, but also to let others take control.
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But at the same time, it's also really fun to just be able to, like, step up in your role and get to say like, “oh, I, you know, I took front on that.
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I took the lead on that.” But it's really just fun getting to work alongside three girls that, you know, become your best friends and you just spend every waking day together.
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Yeah.
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Okay, now let's hear directly from our most famous guest.
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Aubie, what is your favorite part about being everyone's top tiger?
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Oh, that's a good answer.
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I think having the ability to kind of make a tangible connection with not only the Auburn family, but anyone that Aubie meets.
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I think it's just cool that he is able to just see so many people throughout the year and go to so many different things.
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Yeah. I think he would agree.
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Aubie isn't just beloved around Auburn.
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He's also one of the most decorated mascots in the country, with multiple national championships and years of recognition on the national stage.
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What do these championships mean to the program, and what does it take behind the scenes to maintain the level of excellence each year?
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They mean a lot to our program.
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We are very, very proud of Aubie.
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He's 11-time national champion; he was just named USA Today's #1 Mascot of the Year.
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And we are super proud of him because he put so much hard work into everything that he does.
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But, it's definitely just, you know, we have a standard of, you know, no years - no two years are the same.
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But every year we want to get better.
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And we do that; Aubie does that every single year.
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He gets even better every year.
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Yeah. Aubie, where do you keep all these trophies?
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There's so many of them.
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There are a lot.
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There is a -- In the student center, they're -- Aubie has a little exhibit, and you can go see all of his many, many, many, many trophies.
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Nice.
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Everyone at the Auburn football game- Everyone sees Aubie at the football games, the basketball games, Tiger Walks, special events.
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But what's something that people would be surprised to learn about Aubie from our mascot program?
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Oh, that's a great question.
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I would just say it kind of always looks like Aubie might be like performing or putting on a show, but that genuinely is his true personality.
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He is just always like that.
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I think one of the most special moments is when Aubie has those one on one interactions.
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He does love all of the attention of 80,000 fans on him, but I think that it's so sweet just seeing Aubie having like a one on one interaction with a little kid.
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Yeah.
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Aubie, what is one thing about yourself that the fans might not know about you?
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I think that just the level of, like, true, genuine, like, love that Aubie has for people.
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I think it's like, it's never a performance.
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It's always like, what Aubie’s true heart has for people.
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Yeah. That's so awesome.
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What is one appearance for you guys that, or like experience, that you had with Aubie or like through this program that has really stayed with you?
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Definitely when we go, I know it's like kind of -- but when we go to school systems, it's so, so sweet to like: Aubie walks in and like, the kids don't know he supposed to be there and they freak out because Aubie’s there.
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It's literally the sweetest thing ever.
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Just seeing like, how Aubie lights up people's day and, you know, just makes them genuinely so happy.
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It's very exciting to see Aubie in the wild.
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On a very similar note, I actually got to take Aubie a couple weeks ago to one of the, like, local senior living homes and Aubie got to meet with one of their residents who is terminally ill, and just getting to see like the genuine joy on his face.
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And he was so excited and he was like, “Aubie, I got to see you a couple years ago.
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I'm so excited to see you again.” And like the people that were helping take care of them were like, “His family is going to be so happy to see that he got to come meet with Aubie again.” And so seeing moments like that, just knowing that it really does make the biggest impact on people's lives.
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Yeah, I know those moments are so special.
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So for both of you, you guys, either one can answer first.
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As you know, the College of Education emphasizes service leadership and making a positive impact on others.
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How have you seen these values reflected through Aubie's interactions around campus and throughout our community?
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Yeah, I think that it is genuinely just -- it's so much bigger than ourselves.
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Like we get to say, like, we helped with the Aubie Program for a year or two years, however many long but like Aubie is 47 years old and has been doing this for a long time, and just knowing that this, like, Aubie, will just continue being the best after we are here.
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But getting to be that kind of hands and feet service work and just be behind the scenes, and a lot of people, again, don't know what we do or who we are, and they just get to see Aubie.
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And that's so special too, because that's the point and you try to make it look effortless.
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And it's so much fun to just get to see that come to life every day.
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Yeah, yeah, it's definitely a privilege what we get to do.
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We're incredibly lucky to get to spend every day with our favorite tiger.
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But, no, it is just incredibly important what we do, but also important that, you know, it's not about us.
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Everything's about Aubie.
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Everything we do is for Aubie.
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And it's important that people just know that, you know, everything's about the tiger, and we love the tiger.
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And then also, while you're both preparing for careers as educators and have an unique opportunity to help lead one of the most recognizable mascots of the nation, I'm curious how these two experiences, like, intersect with each other.
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Like, how has your time with Aubie helped you prepare to become an educator and, conversely, how has your experience in Auburn's College of Education helped you in your role as Director of Aubie?
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I will say, being in this college, you have to be an outgoing person.
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Even in your classes.
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You get to meet people in your program.
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And it's a lot of fun getting to talk to people and getting to know people from different backgrounds.
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And, you know, in Aubie, with Aubie, that's the same way.
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You know, you go to appearances and you meet all these different people from different backgrounds, and it just really helps you kind of build really communication skills with, you know, students and people that you normally wouldn't think to go up and talk to.
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I think that this college, and I just started my program for elementary education, holds a really high standard for professionalism and timeliness.
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And I think that that's something that is so important in life.
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As teachers, we have to show up for our students every single day.
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And that's something that I've learned from my professors while being in this program for the past month.
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And it's something I know that's going to carry with me, and that applies to being a Director of Aubie.
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We've got to show
up every day.
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We've got to take him even when we're a little bit tired.
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And it's the same with being a teacher.
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I think that it's something that I can relate to my friends about in the College of Education in a different way, and it's so cool to be able to share those experiences with each other through their involvement, but also mine, and just getting to connect all of the pieces of what we do.
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Yeah, that's so cool.
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Do you find that some of the same qualities that make a great educator also help make a great ambassador for Auburn University?
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I definitely think so.
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Sometimes, like when we're taking Aubie to different events, people will make a comment and be like, “I don't know how you keep him in line.” And I'm like, “I don't.
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I try my best, but I really don't.” And I think it's kind of similar for being a teacher, like, you will always try your best and classroom management is something that is so important, but you have to roll with all the things that happen and just be flexible.
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And so it's the same with being an ambassador for the university.
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You just have to put your best foot forward every single day and do your best.
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Yeah! For other students that hope to become more involved in Auburn, what advice would you give them?
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I would say start early.
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I personally didn't, and you know, it was a lot.
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It was very difficult.
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You know, there's a lot of things for freshmen.
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First 56, Freshman Forum, all these things that freshmen can apply for that I can totally recommend.
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There's also a lot of clubs around campus and especially education.
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For like, everyone's specified major, like, there's so many clubs on campus that are just great to get involved with and meet people in your field of expertise.
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But I would say definitely just go for it.
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It can't hurt to interview and try.
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At least it's interview practice, but just go for it.
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Yeah. That's awesome.
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Yeah, I completely agree.
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And people say this a lot, but one piece of advice I hear is like, do something for your major and then do something that's fun.
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And, so I get to help serve as a College of Ed Ambassador as well, which is something that's so awesome.
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You get to meet so many of the faculty and staff members and just kind of get that
really cool connection within the College of Education, which is so beneficial for my major.
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Then, I would say being a Director of Aubie is a fun thing, but it does teach me a lot, and it has taught me a lot about what it's going to be like to be a teacher.
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And so kind of trying to find a couple things.
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One, that is really for fun and one that's something that will benefit you in the long run.
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And the good thing about Auburn is pretty much everything you're going to be involved in will benefit you in the long run. Yes.
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Okay.
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So, now we're going to put you on the spot really quick Aubie with a lightning round.
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And then, we're going to need some translation probably to help.
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What is your favorite Auburn tradition?
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Hey Day! Yes. That is awesome.
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What is your favorite game day activity?
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The eagle flight?
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Eagle flight! He does love the eagle flight. Yes.
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What is your favorite song or dance?
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Is it swag surf?
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Maybe? No.
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Oh, it's “Word Up!” Oh.
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That's it. That's a good one.
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And then who takes more selfies with Aubie - fans?
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Wait, who takes more selfies with fans?
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Aubie or everyone else?
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It's definitely got to be Aubie. Yes.
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Okay, so this has been such a fun conversation today, and we have gotten the chance to learn way more about leadership, service, excellence, and teamwork behind our favorite tiger, Aubie.
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But before we close, I’d love to ask one final question.
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So, in just one sentence or two, what have you learned from Aubie that you will carry with you long after graduation?
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I would say actions speak louder than words.
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We all know that Aubie does not talk and it is perfect just the way that it is.
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And he shows love to every single person he meets.
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Yeah, Aubie definitely teaches you to treat everyone with kindness no matter what.
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And, you know, it's a great lesson for people to learn of, no matter who you're seeing or or what what they're doing that you just love on everyone.
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Yeah. That's so awesome.
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And Aubie, is there anything else that you would like to add?
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He said, “thank you for having me and his wonderful Directors come and be with him on this podcast.” Thank you guys so much for coming.
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So, thanks again, Aubie, Brantley and Cloie for visiting us for our Auburn Ed Talks podcast.
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We were honored to have you guys on the show.
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And thank you so much for all of our listeners.
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Be sure to subscribe for more conversations that celebrate the world of education.
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Waaaaaar Eagle! Hey!