From Shot Putting to Lion Rearing, Carly Bair Chases Life

Carnegie Mellon University's women's track and field member Carly Bair is an adventurer. With big goals and dreams, she gives her whole effort to her many different passions. Her involvement on the track and field team, service as a member of the Naval ROTC, and experiences with lions in Africa demonstrate that not only is Bair a person with diverse interests, she is someone who is unafraid to chase her dreams.

Bair is originally from Maryland, currently a junior and specializes in throwing events: hammer, discus and shot put.

"Across the board, I think what makes sports at CMU unique is that student athletes do the sport because they love it, not because they're planning to go pro or anything like that," said Bair. "People here really have passion for their sport."

For Bair, the track and field team has also been a strong pillar of support.

"The team is so easy to get along with," Bair added. "We're a closely bonded group, and they're great people who continue to stick with me throughout my years here."

However, athletics was not the only reason she applied to Carnegie Mellon.

"I was first attracted to the academic rigor of the school," Bair said. "But in high school, I actually got to know Carnegie Mellon through reading the Last Lecture."

After learning more about the different programs offered at Carnegie Mellon, Bair made her decision, and has been proud of her choice.

"There's so much diversity on campus," Bair said. "At CMU, you're encouraged to go beyond the single interest or your major and people have so many different interests here. I also think the atmosphere is great because it's a place where people combine both creative and technical fields, so students aren't rooted in just their one major."

This diversity offers plentiful opportunities for someone like Bair who has interests in many different areas. When she first came to CMU, she was a mechanical engineer for two years, before deciding that she missed writing because she was so passionate about it. As a result, she changed her major to technical writing and is incredibly content with her decision.

"It gives me the best of both worlds," Bair explained. "I get to combine my interests in engineering with my love of writing."

Because CMU also has a Naval ROTC program, it aligned well with Bair's enthusiasm and passion for serving.

"My dad served in the Navy for 24 years," Bair said. "I always admired him and I knew from early on I wanted to join."

Bair has been fearless about going after her dreams and working toward her passions whether in the classroom, with the track and field team, or within the ROTC program. Her fearlessness has also led her toward her childhood dream of working with lions.

"It's always been a dream of mine since I was young," she admits.

Though many people would be frightened of the idea of being close to a lion, Bair spent a month of her summer working very closely with lions at a wildlife park in Africa.

The wildlife park hosts a lion conservation site where its goal is boosting the lion population in the area, and Bair was excited at the opportunity she had been dreaming about as a young girl.

"I was determined to work with lions since I was young," said Bair. "I read Born Free and thought it was just the coolest thing ever, so I'd been hoping for the chance ever since."

"It was such an amazing experience. I got to walk with them, touch them, and feed them. We even got the opportunity to go to local schools and talk to kids about the importance of helping to take care of the natural environment for the sake of the lions among other animals too. It was great to get immersed in the culture and interact with people there as well."

One of her favorite memories was actually on her birthday.

"I spent my birthday in Africa and usually we have different jobs to do throughout the day, so I got to choose what to do. And that day, they had six-week-old cubs there, and I spent the entire morning playing with them and taking care of them. It was unbelievable," Bair said with a smile. "It was even better than what I had dreamed it would be."

For the future, Bair looks forward to graduating and hopes to attend flight school.

"I always thought I'd be on a boat like my dad, but flying is what I love," Bair said.

This summer, she plans to go out and train with the squadron in order to prepare.

And when she isn't training with the track and field team or taking care of any lions, Bair serves as a Career Peer Mentor at the Career Center on campus. She also enjoys writing and playing guitar in her free time.

People aren't one-dimensional, and like the diversity Bair spoke about on campus at CMU, she is also a part of that diverse student body. From her passion for track, to her love of writing and working with lions, Bair is a hardworking person who gives her all to achieving her goals and making her dreams a reality.