HARRISON TARR
BY MEGAN MANN
FOR THE OPELIKA OBSERVER
Harrison Tarr, one of two Opelika Observer summer interns, was raised in the suburbs of Gwinnett County and is currently a senior in the Journalism program at Auburn University.
Tarr did not always plan on being a journalist. He comes from a long line of engineers, in fact, but he decided to stray away from the family norm. It was during his freshman year of high school that he made the decision to be the first in his family to obtain a liberal arts degree and began his path to a career in journalism.
“When deciding what I wanted to do, I realized how much I really love writing and how it has always been a strong suit of mine,” Tarr said.
Throughout high school, Tarr wrote for his school’s newspaper. While his focus was on sports, he enjoyed many aspects of writing and often found himself writing feature stories, including the “teacher of the year” articles.
Although he grew up in Atlanta, Tarr has been cheering on the Auburn Tigers for many years.
“I first fell in love with Auburn because my best friend growing up would always invite me to football games,” he said.
Tarr expressed that aside from loving the community, he came to Auburn for school because of its growing journalism program.
“I was really interested in being a part of a journalism program that is growing as fast as Auburn’s is,” he said. “I get a more intimate experience in terms of smaller class sizes and more hands-on involvement so when I graduate and join the workforce, I will be able to look back and see all the progress I have made.”
Tarr’s love for sports also played a role in this decision.
“I loved sports in high school but knew I would never play on a college team, that’s when I realized I still didn’t have to give up that part of my life,” he said. “I can still be around the game, and in my opinion, I have more fun actively working at the games instead of participating. That’s when I decided I wanted to do sports journalism.”
Tarr said he enjoys being a part of the media and covering events but hopes to one day work closer alongside the players and coaches.
“My dream job would be an SID,” he added. “I want to be one at some point in my life so I can coordinate between media and student athletes, especially with the new name, image and likeness laws for college athletes.”
Tarr is slated to graduate from Auburn in May of 2022, but said he plans to stay in Auburn after graduation to further his career and connections in the journalism industry.