On a warm day in late September, Tamryn Weiss (28B) walked into Kaldi’s Coffee at the Depot. Immediately, Weiss’ vibrant red hair caught my attention as she bustled through the porch. The wind shifted, as if it were unsure of which way to blow, and Weiss pulled up a chair.
Weiss, who comes to Emory University from South Florida, is majoring in Business and Environmental Science. During her brief time on campus, she has made a large impact on clubs, holding several leadership positions.
Despite only being a sophomore, Weiss spoke with maturity and passionate insight. While reflecting on her first year at Emory, she laughed about a moment of extreme stress and silliness during the two weeks between Thanksgiving break and winter break.
Like any Emory student knows, those two weeks are unbearably challenging, chock-full of finals, end-of-year celebrations and deeply lacking in sleep. Weiss recalls this time during her first year to have been especially rigorous.
“H*ll week is what we call it,” Weiss said.
During this time, Weiss and her friend, Aiden Bergey (28C), were overwhelmed by their never-ending list of tasks when a brief moment of comic relief shifted the energy of their study session. According to Weiss, Raoul Hall’s disjointed study room couches are deceptively easy to fall off of. As the academic pressure peaked during their study session, Bergey flung his hands in the air, causing him to animatedly flip over.
“We were crashing out so hard and then he goes to lean back and backflips backwards and falls into the wall,” Weiss said. “That was just exactly what we needed in that moment, a moment of stupidity and silliness. ”
Even as a small moment, the memory reflects a larger pattern in Weiss’ life: navigating challenges with adaptability. Her flexibility stems from her upbringing, Weiss explained. As a daughter of South African immigrants, she found that her communication skills and maturity evolved differently from her friends from non-immigrant families.
Weiss recalled that from an early age, her parents sought to improve her competence in communicating, specifically with adults, knowing it could help her expand her network of mentors, teachers and advisors.
During Weiss’ childhood, her mother, Shelley Weiss, worked as an art teacher at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Florida. Growing up around affluent and privileged students broadened Weiss’ educational and experiential learning opportunities. She could take classes and explore different learning niches in ways not available at the local public school.
“It afforded me a very unique way of thinking,” Weiss said.
Weiss found that her multifaceted upbringing provided her with a diverse skill set — one that she continuously seeks to improve. Additionally, her mother integrated creative thinking into her life from a young age, encouraging her to craft, build and plan. From busying herself with making crafts in her mother’s studio after class to redesigning bedrooms and making DIY birthday decorations, Weiss continued to hone her creativity through her childhood. She continues to apply her artistry today, serving as the co-director of marketing for TEDxEmory.
Weiss credits her father, William Weiss, who works as an engineer and entrepreneur, with instilling her persistent work ethic, as he, too, pursues projects outside his profession.
“I've always had a very go-getter mindset because of that,” Weiss said.
Weiss pursues opportunities at Emory not to strengthen her resume but because she genuinely enjoys them. Like many Emory students, she is very involved on campus, boasting four executive roles in organizations and student library assistant job. As the vice president of education in the Emory Sustainable Business Group (SBG), co-director of marketing and design for TEDxEmory, director of event operations for Emory Climate Analysis and Solutions and a project lead for Project V Solutions Consulting,, Weiss keeps herself busy.
“I don't think I have an hour of free time during the week,” Weiss said. “I’m definitely on the grind.”
Among Weiss’ campus engagements, she resonates the most with her role in SBG. Within a year of joining, Weiss helped create a program called the Consulting Fellow Initiative (CFI), a semester-long commitment featuring a five week teaching program with a final project and presentation.
“I built out an education program for freshmen because freshmen aren’t allowed to join clubs for the business school now their first year,” Weiss said. “When I entered my first role as a consultant, I felt very unprepared, and I wanted to lead that for people that were incoming.”
Drawing from her past feelings of inadequacy, Weiss aimed to bridge the gap for passionate first-years. In CFI, first-year students undergo five weeks of training before spending the remainder of the semester working on a project that culminates in a presentation, providing them with both experience and networking opportunities.
“Anyone in the world can graduate with a business degree,” Weiss says. “It really is what you do with it that makes or breaks your career.”
Weiss is lucky to have found her “niche” within the world of business: environmental science and sustainability. While the two fields may seem opposite to each other, Weiss connects them through her passion for combatting climate change, demonstrating how the entrepreneurial sphere can institute sustainability. As businesses increasingly implement sustainable practices , she believes that other organizations will need her work in this field in the future.
“The way that I want to go is sustainability consulting,” Weiss said. “A lot of businesses, especially in three years, are going to be looking for those types of things to institute in their business models.”
Weiss exemplifies taking advantage of one’s environment. From becoming an unsuspecting student in a college preparatory school to a leader and innovator at Emory, Weiss continues to develop her career and network. Weiss’ insistence on growing herself and her organizations makes it hard to imagine her slowing down anytime soon — and that is exactly how she likes it.
