Being a student at the University of South Carolina’s College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management means endless opportunities. Those doors are open right away, enabling even first- and second-year students to experience amazing things.
Tourism management major Sydney Lynch still has two months to go in her sophomore year, but what she has already experienced and accomplished would be a résumé to be proud of even over a much longer time.
Lynch, a native of Albany, Georgia, first visited USC as a high school junior and knew immediately that it was the place for her.
“I absolutely fell in love with it. I toured two more times before I was accepted and I was like, ‘This is my end all be all. I can't be anywhere else,’” she recalls. “At my information session and tour of HRSM with [Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management and Professional Development] Collin Crick and HRSM Leaders, I just remember everyone being so kind and going above and beyond what anyone at any other school had ever even tried to do. They genuinely wanted to get to know me as a person rather than just like the academic side of things.”
Lynch is now one of the HRSM Leaders who work with Crick and his team to guide tours and present information sessions. She applied and was chosen for the HRSM Leadership Program in the spring of her first year. She and her peers in the program give their time and talents to serve the college in many ways, including working at events and assisting the college’s communications and marketing team. When calls for volunteers go out, Lynch is frequently among the first to say yes.
“I'm not even done with my sophomore year, but I already could not repay HRSM enough for the opportunities I've been given, the people I've met, the connections I've made and just the kindness everyone has shown towards me,” she says when asked why she is so willing to give of herself. “I feel like you truly get back what you put into things. And that has been proven time and time again with the time and effort I've put into the Leaders and just helping out where I can.”
Her willingness to give does not stop with her role as an HRSM Leader. Lynch earned the Gold President’s Volunteer Service Award in the fall of 2024, recognizing her commitment to serving the community and the completion of 250+ service hours over the course of the previous year.
That volunteer service included working with animal shelters and with USC Dance Marathon and the Children's Miracle Network. Lynch also served as an Extended Mentor (XM) for Pillars for Carolina after participating in the program in her first year.
Lynch has also seen much more of the world than many 20-year-olds, thanks first to her parents. After her eighth grade year, they placed Sydney and her sister in an online school, allowing a flexible schedule.
“My parents are lucky enough to have jobs where they make their own schedules as well. And so for the six months before COVID that I was in high school, we traveled to six countries,” Lynch says. “After COVID we picked it all right back up. My senior year, we spent a good bit of time in Italy and the U.K., and it was such a dream come true.”
Her love of travel made tourism management an easy choice as a major. She returned to Italy on a study abroad trip, a memorable experience which led directly to her adding a beverage management minor.
“Almost a year later, I'm still finding words for it, but the beverage management expertise there was otherworldly. Getting to learn from the best of the best and sit in classrooms in Florence University of the Arts was amazing, and so was getting a chance to spend more time with [HRSM faculty and staff] Karen Edwards, Sandy Strick, Scott Kaplan and Jana Xanthakos and [USC Vice President for Student Affairs and Academic Support] Rex Tolliver,” Lynch says.
Lynch has excelled in the classroom, particularly enjoying travel and destination management, conference in meeting planning, and personnel. She has also found mentors including hospitality management Ph.D. student Damla Sonmez.
“Her mentorship is one of the things that I am most grateful to HRSM for,” Lynch says. “Literally anything business and professional related, any job or internship offer or opportunity, I can take it to her and say, ‘Do you think this is going to help me get to where I want to be?’ She's not going to sugarcoat anything for me. It’s great.”
As a sophomore, Lynch has also been nominated by an HRSM faculty member for the USC Student Life Legacy Award, the highest honor bestowed upon students who exemplify outstanding leadership, service and dedication to enhancing the university.