Third-year studen, Georgetown native honored
Elizabeth Wilson is the 2011 USC Outstanding Woman of the Year.
A native of Georgetown, S.C., Wilson is a Carolina Scholar, a Lieber Scholar, a Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholar, a Palmetto Fellow. She is a third-year Honors College student with a quintuple major in international business, finance, marketing, management science and real estate.
She was also recently recognized as a Darla Moore School of Business Emerging Leader and was part of the Congressional Advisory Board in Washington, D.C. In order to graduate in three years, Wilson has filled each of her semesters at Carolina with over 20 credit hours, a course load that, she says, has not affected her extracurricular involvement. She is a member of USC’s Business Case Competition Team, serves as an EPI Conversation Partner and volunteers with Waverly Family Practice, conducting presentations on diabetes awareness.
“My mission in life is to make everything fun, and learning, for me, has always come easy,” Wilson said. “When you want to do something, you have to do it. There are no limits to what you can achieve accept for the ones you place on yourself.”
Wilson was honored during the annual ceremony Wednesday afternoon that culminated Women’s Student Services celebration of women’s history month.
For the past 16 years, USC has awarded outstanding female undergraduate students who have demonstrated high academic achievement, leadership skill and a commitment to community service.
“This celebration is a community-building opportunity,” Campus Life Director Kim McMahon, an advisor of the Women’s Mentor Network, said. “It gives the faculty, staff and students the chance to come together and recognize our accomplishments as women and the strides we’ve made in business and in our communities.”
Other accomplished nominees recognized at the ceremony included fourth-year psychology student Caroline Clark, president of Club Tennis; third-year public relations student Christina Galardi, student director of Carolina Service Council; third-year African American studies and pre-med student Amartha Ogburu-Ogbonnaya, cultural awareness coordinator for Carolina Productions; and fourth-year political science and French student Katharine Parham, director of alternative breaks for Carolina Service Council.
Chair Elect of the Alala Cancer Society Kim Neel delivered the keynote address for the ceremony. A business graduate, social servant and a one-year breast cancer survivor, Neel described her own journey as a woman in management and reminded the honorees “to those whom much is given, much is expected.”
“The talent I see at USC is amazing,” Neel said. “Even though the slate is steep, there’s nothing like what I see in these women today.”