Chello Gardner will graduate with a degree in communication on Saturday, May 3. Photo by Angela Foster.
With 36 acceptance letters and full-ride scholarships from schools across the country and beyond—including an Ivy League institution—Chello Gardner had an important decision to make.
“I was overwhelmed with decisions,” said Gardner, a first-generation college student from Arlington, Tennessee. “Decision fatigue is what I had.”
What separated the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga from the others? A quick prayer, a long nap and Scrappy—UTC’s mascot.
“I decided to take a nap,” she said. “If the universe shows me a sign, that’s the school I’m going to pick.
“I woke up and opened Instagram. It was a post of Scrappy. That’s how I decided.”
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Gardner knew exactly what she wanted out of her college experience from the moment she filled out all those applications. With the rise of social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic, she found a hobby in content creation.
“Communication is closely connected to social media,” she said, “and I knew I wanted to do social media. In high school, when COVID happened, I got really into TikTok and I started getting into content creation.
“We had a digital media class in high school where we ran the school’s social media and wrote articles for our website.”
Gardner will graduate with a degree in communication on Saturday, May 3. She tacked on minors in both criminal justice and women, gender and sexuality studies—and was a Brock Scholar in the Honors College—during her time at UTC.
Even with the heavy courseload, Gardner was determined to make the most out of her college experience. She played trumpet with the Marching Mocs her freshman year, joined a leadership cohort called Moc LEAD and got involved with several student organizations—including the Political Science Club, the Feminist Action Movement and the sustainability group UTC ONE.
Gardner also became a member of the Zeta Iota chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.
“I’m very much a loner, but I was getting so involved in action-oriented social justice and community service,” she said. “The other clubs I was in were community service and action-oriented, but they weren’t as organized.
“The highlight of being in my sorority is being able to collaborate with so many different walks of life under one umbrella. It’s an international organization, so we get to collaborate with people from all over the world.”
One of Gardner’s most meaningful experiences on campus, though, was serving as an orientation leader. The idea also originated from an experience she had during the COVID-19 shutdown.
“I came in during COVID and I didn’t have a technical orientation leader. We had Zoom, and Mallary Quaderer was a queen who helped walk me through things,” Gardner said. Quaderer graduated from UTC in May 2024. “When I got here and I saw Mallary, I was like, ‘She’s a real person and she’s actually helping me.’
“So then I decided, I want to be an orientation leader because I want to be like her when I grow up,” she said with a laugh.
Gardner said the experience transformed her in ways she didn’t expect.
“It has allowed me to be a mentor to people,” she said. “It has allowed me to come out of my shell. I used to be very shy and did not talk to anyone. With orientation, you cannot do that.”
Chello Gardner speaks to incoming students and their families at a transfer orientation session.
For Gardner, getting involved meant growing up. Coming from a sheltered upbringing, she said she was determined to have a “real college experience.”
She described the moment her aunt dropped her off on campus in 2021.
“We were in two different cars. I turned into campus and was like, ‘Why isn’t she behind me anymore?’ Gardner said. “She went to the hotel and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m really on my own. I guess I have to spread my wings and fly.”
Though her contagious positive attitude wouldn’t show it, Gardner’s time in college was shaped by personal loss. Her grandfather died during her first semester, and in her sophomore year, she lost her mother.
“I started my college career and within the first month my grandpa passed,” she said. “Sophomore year, my mom passing was a big kaboom. It took me a good minute to get acclimated to school, life and stuff like that.”
While many others may have found it impossible to continue with school after such devastating losses, Gardner used it as motivation.
“My mom never actually got to go to school, but education was a big thing for her,” she said. “Also for my grandfather. I’m his first grandchild that’s gone to college.
“His passing pushed me to do better. When my mom passed, it gave me a bigger push.”
Chello Gardner (middle) and other UTC student volunteers at CHATT Foundation during United Way’s Day of Caring.
When Gardner crosses the graduation stage, she said she’ll feel confident about stepping into the “real world.”
During her time in college, she had the opportunity to dive deeper into her passion for social media. In a full-circle moment, she went from seeing a post of Scrappy on the UTC Instagram to helping manage the account herself.
Gardner worked as a social media intern in the Division of Communications and Marketing during her last three years at UTC. She explained the importance of this responsibility.
“One, holding the internship position for so long,” she said. “Two, I think I’ve seen my professional growth in terms of the content that I’ve created and how far I’ve gone from ‘baby’ content to ‘big girl’ content.
“Being able to run the page by myself as a fully functioning social media specialist, I can confidently say I will graduate at the same level as someone that has been in the game for three to four years.”
Since January, she has also worked as a social media intern for The Company Lab (CO.LAB)—a nonprofit startup accelerator in Chattanooga.
“I have been spreading my wings because the company is not super big, but it functions like a medium to large size company,” she explained. “They’re very much into sustainable mobility and technology. I’ve been able to learn in a new space as well as how to speak in that type of environment.
“I’m used to the ‘girly pop’ emojis at UTC. I’m picking up new skills in terms of brand consistency. At UTC, there’s people whose job is ‘brand.’ At CO.LAB, there’s a marketing team of three, including myself.”
When it comes to life after graduation, Gardner said she’s excited to use her skills in Chattanooga or elsewhere. She also has goals of furthering her education.
“I want to go back to school and get my master’s,” she said. “I also thought about getting my bachelor’s in psychology or sociology. What intrigues me about social media is the way people act on social media versus the way they act in person.”
When Gardner leaves UTC, she understands she will be leaving a lot behind—new life experiences, professional development, trauma and grief.
“My entire life happened here,” she said, but she is thankful for what she has learned.
“UTC has given me so much and I’ve given so much to UTC,” she said. “I feel like I’m one with the school, especially the social media and orientation and all that kind of stuff.
“I’m so connected with campus that I feel like I can’t let it go, but I have to let it go. I have to let myself flourish and let someone else take my spot and see what they can do.”
Chello Gardner signs a National Hazing Prevention Week banner during a “Mocs Don’t Haze” tabling event in 2023. Photo by Mason Edwards.
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