#TellUsTigers 2020: An Instagram community of Princetonians without borders

As the Class of 2020 President, I envisioned a much different end to our time at Princeton ... but I’m looking forward to the future — this is just the beginning for the Great Class of 2020.”

“[B]e kind to others, smiles are free and kindness costs nothing.”

“Music and drumming are so important to me, and when I play, I find that I am able to express what I cannot through words — it is both a powerful and empowering part of my life.”

“I found myself more lost and confused than ever.”

“Each step of the research process offers innumerable ways to fail, and I probably have experienced them all.”

Princeton’s #TellUsTigers Instagram series, now in its fifth year, captures first-person stories that open up the diverse inner worlds of Princetonians. With intention, they reveal the unexpected: a friendship strengthened by difference, a vision of service borne of a cultural taboo, the silver linings of life in quarantine, or the quiet solace of throwing a pot on a ceramics wheel to counter self-doubt and depression.

#TellUsTigers is also a community without borders. Stories regularly spotlight alumni around the world and, in the pandemic, from students, faculty and staff on or near campus and across the globe. The audience is global as well: the series reaches Princeton’s 340,000+ followers on Instagram and hundreds of thousands more on Twitter and Facebook. And the thoughtful comments they share — each a tiny epilogue of encouragement, a soupçon of support or a coda of camaraderie — become part of the stories themselves.

Below, we invite you into that community — with recent posts from Princeton undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff and alumni. Click on each photo to view comments. Follow us on Instagram. The series is also shared on Twitter and Facebook. Members of the University community may submit suggestions for future #TellUsTigers posts via email at pusocialmedia@princeton.edu