{"70807":{"#nid":"70807","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Marcantel\u2019s Career Was Risk that Paid Off","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENothing is scarier than spending years preparing for a career only to realize it might not be the right fit \u2014 just ask Tanner Marcantel.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m not a risk taker, but I would have to say that the biggest risk I ever took was choosing to leave behind all of the work I\u2019d invested in learning foreign languages from middle school through college to give working in student affairs a shot,\u201d said the assistant dean of students and director of Greek Affairs. \u201cBut it paid off.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt was during his senior year at Louisiana State University (LSU) that Marcantel became interested in student affairs. He had a part-time job working in the Office of the Dean of Students, and it was Dean James Trott who encouraged Marcantel to consider making the switch. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarcantel\u2019s experience as a member of the Theta Xi fraternity at LSU made him a good fit for Greek Affairs. Prior to arriving at Tech about a year ago, Marcantel spent four years at Vanderbilt overseeing the area. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m really passionate about my job, because my Greek experience was amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen a fraternity is done right, it can be an amazing opportunity to develop lifelong skills.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003ERecently, the Whistle had an opportunity to learn more about Marcantel and his time at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the biggest misconception about your job? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA lot of people think that I just babysit children all of the time when really my job is to help students reflect on the choices that they make \u2014 good and bad \u2014 and learn from them.\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESo, what do you spend your days doing?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EI spend a great deal of my day communicating with students and campus colleagues.\u0026nbsp; This takes the form of student organization meetings and individual conversations with students. These discussions always relate to Greek Life\u2019s relevance to Tech and how students\u2019 actions affect our contributions to campus. I also spend time supervising and mentoring a professional staff, who work closely with our student leaders.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is most satisfying about your work?\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere\u2019s not a lot of instant gratification in this job. Sometimes it takes years to know that I\u2019ve made a difference. For example, one student from Vanderbilt called me several years after I\u2019d worked with her. She wanted me to know that a conversation we\u2019d had stuck with her and helped her get through personal and professional situations. Moments like these are really satisfying.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat piece of technology could you not live without personally and professionally?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI have to feel connected, so I use my iPad for everything from Facebook to work email.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhich do you prefer: Facebook, Twitter or a world without all of this social media stuff? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI\u2019d say facebook because it lets me know what\u2019s going on, whether it\u2019s keeping up with friends from high school or getting news about pop culture. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your favorite spot on campus?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt would be by the Campanile where you are surrounded by this traditional college environment, but you look up and see the skyline of Atlanta. That\u2019s one of the best things about Tech \u2014 you get a college campus feel in the middle of a major city. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the best advice you\u2019ve ever received? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA speaker I once heard said, \u201cFigure out what you\u2019re passionate about, learn to do it well and find a way to get paid for it.\u201d\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt would probably be my grandfather on my dad\u2019s side who passed away before I graduated from college. (I\u2019m the oldest of 17 grandchildren.) I would love to fill him in on everything that has happened.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENothing is scarier than spending years preparing for a career only to realize it might not be the right fit \u2014 just ask Tanner Marcantel. \u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Nothing is scarier than spending years preparing for a career only to realize it might not be the right fit \u2014 just ask Tanner Marcantel."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2011-10-03 16:08:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:05","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-10-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-10-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70806":{"id":"70806","type":"image","title":"Tanner Marcantel","body":null,"created":"1449177314","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:14","changed":"1475894611","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:31","alt":"Tanner Marcantel","file":{"fid":"192833","name":"tanner.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tanner_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tanner_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2943978,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tanner_0.jpg?itok=MLBwr39_"}}},"media_ids":["70806"],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14591","name":"assistant dean of students"},{"id":"14592","name":"director of Greek Affairs."},{"id":"14590","name":"Tanner Marcantel"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}