Samantha Hinton is on track to graduate from the University of South Carolina in May with a bachelor’s degree in advertising. The Summerville, South Carolina, resident started out at Carolina in Palmetto Pathway, a bridge program for first-year students.
Palmetto Pathway students are enrolled through USC Lancaster but live in Bates residence hall on the Columbia campus and attend classes exclusively with other Palmetto Pathway students. After successful completion of the first year, students transfer to USC Columbia. The program boasts a retention rate of up to 90 percent.
Here, Hinton shares about her experience with the program.
What led you to choose USC?
I applied to a bunch of different colleges and got in, but I didn’t feel super-excited about going to a smaller college. When I applied to USC, I got accepted into Palmetto Pathway, and I was excited even though I didn’t know what Pathway was at all. I was just glad that I got to go to college here.
How did you decide on your major?
I thought I wanted to do criminal justice and psychology, but I took the intro class for criminal justice my freshman year and found it kind of boring. I just wasn’t feeling passionate about the major, but I got really interested in real estate and decided to switch to advertising. You don’t need a degree in real estate, you just need the license. So, I went for a broader approach to learn how to advertise a company and a product, which applies to real estate.
How was your experience as a Palmetto Pathway freshman?
Nothing was really different — orientation was the same, I met my roommate through the matching portal as anybody else would. I think the biggest thing was that it really connected me to the university. I know so many people through Palmetto Pathway, and I still have classes with some of them. It’s super nice to see somebody that you’ve known since the beginning of college. Me and my roommate from freshman year are still really good friends — we’re always talking and hanging out and stuff. It was just a really good way to connect with people who were learning the college experience with you.
You’re graduating on schedule in May. Congratulations! What’s next?
I just got a job with a real estate company — it’s called Carolina First Realty Group — and I’m taking my real estate courses online for licensure. We’re trying to update the company’s online presence and integrate that into the social media landscape. I’m not a real estate agent yet, so I’m helping out now with making logos and other organizational stuff. My plan is to have my real estate license by the time I graduate.
How have your advertising studies helped prepare you for a career in real estate?
College really opened my eyes to how much public speaking you actually have to do, and public speaking was a big fear of mine. I got over it pretty quickly because I’m constantly having to make pitches and case presentations in advertising classes.