May 1, 2017
Many students who come to the Moore School excel, but there are some students who take "excel" to a whole new level. Rachel Lunsford is one of those students. Just this semester, Lunsford has competed in a case competition in Ireland, been on the winning team for the UNICC case competition in Spain, lobbied South Carolina congressmen in D.C., interned at the State House and met Warren Buffet through the Finance Scholars program.
A third-year international business and finance major and Spanish minor, the McNair Scholar is graduating this May and starting the Moore School’s Master of International Business program in the fall. In her time at USC, she has been part of Freshman Council and Student Government Senate, Ross Lordo’s director of external affairs, president of Rotaract Service Club, a member of the Carolina band and a singer in USC’s gospel choir.
As you might imagine, the one thing she can’t do is pick a favorite experience.
“It’s hard to say what my best experience would be because one of the best things about the Moore School is that it’s so holistic,” she said. “It gives you skills in many different areas and hones you into the leader you will become.”
When it comes down to it, the Honors College student has been more affected by the people she’s surrounded herself with than the activities she’s participated in.
“I don’t know if I have a best experience, but I’ve loved meeting people — whether that’s meeting my classmates, meeting people when I’ve been abroad — that’s probably been the best, most lasting thing,” she said.
This summer, she will be interning with a consulting firm in Atlanta through the Finance Scholars program, and after earning her MIB, she’s looking into other master’s programs or going to law school. As part of winning the UNICC case competition, she and her teammates earned directed minutes toward the MBA program at IESE in Spain, one of the top 10 MBA programs in the world. If she were to attend, she would also receive a €20,000 scholarship.
“The Moore School puts you in a place to give you opportunities that are unique that I probably would not have gotten if I had gone somewhere else,” she said.
All in all, she will be leaving the Moore School poised for success regardless of where she goes next.
By Madeleine Vath