‘Focus back on organizations’
As a kid, Brandon White never spent a full year at one school.
His family moved around a lot in New York’s Niagara Falls region, mostly shifting for job opportunities, he said.
It wasn’t until high school, when they moved near Myrtle Beach to avoid the cold, that he was able to settle down.
So when White landed at USC, he did what he always did — he dove in. During his childhood, if he didn’t get involved fast, he wouldn’t at all.
“That constant transition really helped me jump in,” White said.
He started looking into WUSC, took a role as a deputy in the Student Government cabinet, and the night he saw a hypnotist perform in August, he asked to work for Carolina Productions.
By the end of that first fall, he was also getting involved with the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Straight Alliance; Students Associated for Latin America; College Democrats; and the Capstone Scholars.
Now a third-year sociology student, White has added Carolina Productions’ vice president of internal affairs and Student Media’s board of publications to his list of involvements.
“A lot of college students don’t understand how limited our time is here,” White said. “Our four years go by really quick, so I’ve always felt that I have a good appreciation for time.”
So over winter break, having recently left Carolina Productions, where he’d focused his energy prior, he started thinking about how he’d spend his final year. He decided he’d like to become the student body treasurer.
White touts his experience with Carolina Productions’ six-figure budget as qualification for the treasurer job, but he said he’s interested in expanding the job’s role to bringing in off-campus sponsors for student organizations and building better relationships on campus.
His election would represent “a year of putting the focus back on student organizations,” he said.
If he’s elected, he said he would meet with local businesses and ask them if they’d be willing to give grants to students with similar priorities and compile a book of possible sponsors, which he did to a lesser extent with Carolina Productions during his time there.
Throughout his involvement on campus, White said he’s always been prone to take things head on. He’s always been independent, he said.
As a child, he spent most afternoons and evenings on his own while his parents were at work, so he’s used to taking care of issues himself.
Now when he sees a problem or has an idea for an organization, he gets to work, he said.
“When I’m in a leadership role, I’m very self-reliant, meaning I tend to just do things,” White said. “If you cook dinner for yourself every night, sooner or later you realize, ‘Oh, if you don’t cook dinner, then it’s whatever you get out of the snack jar.’ ... If you want something done, then you do it.”
And while he’s independent, White said he likes building teams, and he wants to build one to make the most of his last year here.
“I only have a year and a half left,” White said of his thinking over the break. “What is the final thing you want to make an impact on on campus?”