Corbin White: The Face of Something New
When Corbin White first started thinking about college, industrial engineering wasn’t on his radar. The USC Upstate freshman originally planned to study architecture at Clemson and combine his eye for design with his passion for building things. But as the deadline to decide approached, he felt a call to stay close to home. And, eventually, to a brand-new opportunity.
“I wanted to go to Clemson for architecture because no college really offers an auto body program,” said White, who enjoys working on cars with his dad. “Right when I was about to choose to go back to Clemson, I heard about the industrial engineering program here and decided to take it instead.”
It turned out to be a defining choice for him. Because the program is new, White is helping to shape its future. The Lab in Industry component, in which students visit 10 different manufacturers over the course of the semester for hands-on experiences, has been especially meaningful to him. “What sets this program apart is the labs that we do,” he says. “And I have really seen that over the course of this semester. It’s not like anything I’ve heard from any other school. They are definitely pioneering something new here.”
As a Chancellor’s Ambassador with an outgoing personality, White has quickly become a familiar face around campus. Even before he started college, he had shadowed Chancellor Bennie Harris as a “Chancellor for a Day.” But it’s important to him that people get to know him as a person. “Not just some face,” he says. “[I want] people to know Corbin instead of the Chancellor’s Ambassador.”
Balancing classes, work, and leadership isn’t easy, but White has approached it with humility and pride. “College has definitely been a huge academic challenge,” he says. “I realized I need to step down from pre-calculus II and go back to the basics and work my way back up from there. So in a sense, it has humbled me academically … but it has shown me where I’ve been lacking and where I’ve been strong and what I need to work on to grow.”
During those challenges, White has leaned on others for advice and inspiration. “I’ve looked to my seniors … the sophomores, the juniors, the actual seniors, and they’ve helped me a lot,” he says. “I’ve talked to a few of them about how to manage schedules, what sites to go to for studying, and I’ve gotten advice from them.”
A notable part of White’s experience at USC Upstate has been the strength of the community. “Nobody here has ever been unreachable if you’ve had a problem,” he says. “Nobody here has ever dismissed your problems. I mean, everybody helps everybody.”
And he hopes to one day return the favor by being a resource for others. “When I become a senior and I get up in grades, I want to help people who are struggling, too. I want them to come to me for advice and be like, ‘Hey, I’m a freshman. What did you do to get through your freshman year? How did you manage your schedule?’ I want to be able to help them with that and help our community grow.”
While White is still in his first semester, he’s already helping define what it means to be part of something new: a program, a community, and a story still being written. He’s grateful for the many people at USC Upstate who have already had a big impact on him. “I will continue to remember them in my future careers as far as I go.”