From early morning lifts to late-night practices and brand partnerships in between, Erin Thompson exemplifies what it means to be a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina.
Erin Thompson is a junior retailing (concentration in retail management) student from Leesburg, Virginia, in South Carolina’s College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management. While maintaining Dean’s List honors in the classroom, Thompson is building herself professionally through internships and brand partnerships on social media, all while competing as a top athlete on the Carolina Dance Team.
Thompson’s journey at USC began when she toured campus prior to her senior year of high school. She fell in love with the university’s athletic culture, the College of HRSM and the Carolina Dance Team — three key factors in her college decision.
She chose HRSM because of the wide range of opportunities the college provides. One of her favorite parts of the retail management program is the constant exposure to the industry through unique guest speakers, connecting with industry professionals and numerous ways students can gain work experience. Thompson emphasized that her classes dive into multiple career paths, and each retail class is extremely personalized making it easy to build relationships with professors.
Erin recently completed her retailing practicum at Salty’s Board Shop in Columbia, South Carolina, where she fulfilled 300 work hours while balancing classes and managing her intense dance training. During her time as an intern, Erin managed the shop’s social media platforms, assisted with daily retail operations, and helped develop marketing strategies aimed at driving sales growth.
In addition to her internship experience, Erin creates social media content to document her college journey. What began as a personal space to capture memories has evolved into a professional networking platform, allowing her to build meaningful relationships within the retail industry. Through her work as a content creator, Erin has partnered with brands such as Prada Beauty, Princess Polly, and GetBack Necklaces. These collaborations have provided Erin with hands-on experience in brand and influencer marketing, helping her develop skills that directly support her future career goals in retail buying or social media marketing.
Alongside her academic and professional commitments, Thompson is a student-athlete on the nationally-recognized Carolina Dance Team. The team practices three days per week for three hours each session and participates in early morning lifts and workouts weekly. The team also performs at every basketball and football game while simultaneously preparing for its own competition — UDA Nationals. As nationals approach, practices transition into two-a-day sessions following December finals through mid-January.
Last year, the Carolina Dance Team made the switch from NDA Nationals to UDA Nationals, the highest level of collegiate dance competition.
“We have something so special,” Erin says. “Being ourselves and staying authentic to who we are — that’s all we can do. We want to show up and show how hard we’ve been training for this moment.”
Erin expresses immense gratitude for the honor of representing the University of South Carolina on the national stage. In recent years, UDA Nationals has become a widely known platform for promoting women’s sports.
“It’s more than what the public usually sees,” she says. “As UDA continues to grow and more teams compete at this level, it sets an incredibly high standard for collegiate dance.”
It is evident that during all of this, Erin has incredible time management, an inspiring work ethic, and puts 100 percent effort into everything she does. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in either social media marketing or retail buying and through her experiences at USC and within HRSM, she has already taken meaningful steps toward achieving those goals.