Pierre-Laurent Courrier

In high school, Pierre-Laurent Courrier thought he had his future planned out. But a decision to transfer to USC Upstate allowed him to think differently about his path and delve into his cybersecurity major.

Courrier, a double major in cybersecurity and data science, transferred to Upstate from Greenville Tech. It was there he met Upstate’s Director of Recruitment Ira Pace at a career fair.

“I started asking some questions,” Courrier remembers, “and he seemed very knowledgeable. He was very open. I mean, he had points to talk about every one of my questions.”

Courrier loved the size of Upstate’s campus and what it had to offer: “It’s a small campus, but it still feels like we’re cared for. We’ve got a lot of resources accessible all the time.”

Another draw to Upstate was reverse transfer, which would allow him to earn the associate’s degrees he started at the technical college while completing his bachelor’s degree at Upstate.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Courrier moved to France at 5 and relocated to the U.S. eight years ago. He initially planned to study international business, something he was tailoring his resume for all throughout high school.

“I was an international student. I spoke three languages,” he recalls. “I was interested in business. I was taking business classes to have literally the perfect coursework, perfect resume for business.”

As Courrier settled on his college choice, his parents also encouraged him to think about his major and if it was still a good fit. After some reflection, “I realized, actually, not really,” he says.

“I like hands-on things. I love practical things, and I love computers. Cybersecurity just kind of came up, and (I) just never really looked back.”

Courrier ended up loving the subject, mostly the hands-on aspect. He was happy to find that same approach to learning in his classes at Upstate.

“I’m an (Admissions) ambassador, so I always tell people … if you’re a very hands-on, like practical learner, USC Upstate is a perfect place for that—across all majors,” he says. “They try and make it super, super hands-on, which for me is how I learn, by doing things over and over again and being in that situation.”

Courrier says labs are one place he can do that, and professors are close by to help. Though early in the major, he’s already learned some programming, including Python and Java, in computer science.

Outside of the lab and classroom, Courrier is involved in the Computer Science Club. Through the club, there are opportunities to join different workshops in subjects like coding and network security where they learn fundamentals.

Every two weeks, the club hosts a cybersecurity workshop. He enjoys the club because he’s “surrounded by people motivated by the same things.”

“They’re just as passionate as you,” he says, adding it drives him to be more detailed with projects and want “to get it right, to not just give up and ‘ChatGPT it.’ It feels like they’re always looking out and seeing how you can keep going.”

Courrier knows the benefit of finding a community on campus. Among his other activities, he is deeply involved in Cru, a campus ministry group.

“For transfer students, I would say that even if you live close, try as much as you can to be involved in literally anything,” he says. “There’s something for every single person; there’s a taste for everyone. And if not, then start a club, find someone who’ll sponsor you. It’s not very difficult either.”