Tiger Mou: College Counselor

I have known Tiger Mou for a little over a year now as his College Counselor at GSSM, a small public two year residential school for students from across the state of South Carolina. He was also a student in a College Seminar class that I taught last spring.

Academically, Tiger willing accepted the offer to transfer from Riverside High School in Greer, SC, which offers a very rigorous curriculum to the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM). Here at GSSM, classes are taught at the college level and science classes have two-hour labs in addition to the regular class time. He has challenged himself by taking one of the most difficult schedules of any student on campus. He has managed to maintain the GPA that he entered
He has gone from simply being a member of a club or a team to being on the committee responsible for organizing the building of a Blanket Fort in an attempt to break the world record for the longest one built. His role was to help design and construct the framework of the 256 square meter fort. Although they managed to break the record at the time, it was unfortunately broken again before the Guinness Book of World Records certified all of our paperwork. However, all of the blankets that were collected to help build the fort were donated to local shelters, as well as the $2,500 that was raised. Tiger also applied and was selected by a committee to serve as a Natural Helper (peer counselor) this year. The Natural Helper position is one of the most coveted leadership positions at GSSM. These students mentor a small group of incoming juniors. He meets regularly with them as a small group and also on an individual basis, making sure that they are adjusting to life at GSSM. Natural Helpers also help with campus wide events like Parents’ Day and Preview Days in addition they assist the residence life staff with addressing issues in the residence hall.

As for service to the school and community, Tiger worked with a program called Connect Hartsville. This involved working with local businesses to help them connect to people through the use of social media. Last year he tutored a fellow student who was struggling in several classes. He is currently volunteering in our IT Department and serving as a tutor for Computer Science classes. Additionally, Tiger is working with a group called Tech Talk - a group of students who offer seminars in the local community to those who need help learning more about new