MASCOT PROFILE

Tiger

Fashion Institute of Technology

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1. Where are you from?
   Like many New Yorkers, I am a transplant. Born in the jungles of India, I was raised in New York City. Having lived in all five boroughs (Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan), I have settled in Chelsea—FIT’s neighborhood.
2. How were you chosen to be school mascot?
   While interning at the Central Park Zoo, I was given the opportunity to visit FIT and see their world famous spring fashion show. I was so impressed with the level of talent and creativity on display that I decided to ask about internships at the college. After speaking with the Career and Internship Center, I was placed in the Mascot position—and the rest, as they say, “is history.”
3. Do you have any friends that are mascots?
   I get along with everyone in the city, particularly at the SUNY and CUNY institutions, but I find making friends a bit difficult. FIT students, specifically their athletic teams, are so successful that there always seems to be a hint of jealousy in the air.
4. What is your favorite campus event?
   Hmmmm... so many to choose from... my top 3 are Orientation/Week of Welcome—when I get to meet all the new FIT students; Legacy Week: FIT Homecoming—where we celebrate the FIT community including students, faculty, staff, families, community, and alumni; but the best event is Commencement—where I get to celebrate and recognize the achievements of all of our graduating students.
5. What do you consider the ideal fan?
   The ideal fan has a positive attitude, loud cheering voice/roar, is very enthusiastic, and wearing tiger stripes always helps, too.
6. What is it like to be a mascot?
   Exhausting, exhilarating, and extremely rewarding. I get to live in a community filled with talented faculty and students with supportive staff and administration at the most creative college in the world. It is a dream come true!
7. What do you like to do for fun?
   I love to travel to see FIT students around the world—whether it be at our campuses in Milan and Florence, or at exchange institutions in places like China, Japan, London, Paris or Berlin. All over the world FIT students are fierce designers and business people. I also like to run and swim or play tennis (including table tennis), volleyball, and soccer—and, oh yes—I have been known to throw down on the dance floor with the FIT Dance Company.
8. What is your favorite Broadway play?
   My family would say I should pick Cats because so many of my cousins were in it, but actually I love Kinky Boots right now. The music and the choreography are, again, fierce, and who doesn’t love Cyndi Lauper?!
9. What is your favorite New York State destination?
   I love taking the subway to Times Square because no one even looks twice at a tiger in a t-shirt and shorts, even during this winter season. I also love the Adirondacks (upstate) that remind me of the stories my mom would tell me about our home in the jungles of India. What is so great about New York is that it has it all—the mountains, ocean, rivers, and lakes—and of course, the greatest city in the world: New York!