As disparate as they might sound, here are some of the keywords of Breanna Price’s collegiate experience thus far: piglets, pancakes, international business, Chinese, lacrosse and South Korea.
The Minnesota native is a junior international business major in USC’s Darla Moore School of Business with a minor in Chinese, so that much makes sense. But piglets and pancakes?
“It was my first week on campus, and a student club, Pancakes for Parkinson’s, had this thing where you could pay $5 to hold a piglet,” says Price, whose grandfather has the neurological disease. “I learned about the club and liked what they were doing to raise money for Parkinson’s disease research. So, I showed up at their first meeting my sophomore year and ended up becoming the vice president.”
As a member of Pancakes for Parkinson’s, Price has learned a lot about fundraising and not being embarrassed to shout like a carnival barker to entice students to donate for a plate of pancakes.
“I became braver and more confident in doing that and just had so much fun,” she says. “On the more professional side, I am a member of Phi Chi Theta, one of the business fraternities on campus, and I’ve grown so much professionally through that organization — talking to recruiters and doing interviews — and have met some amazing people who have pushed me to take difficult classes.”
"Pancakes for Parkinson’s, had this thing where you could pay $5 to hold a piglet. I learned about the club and liked what they were doing to raise money for Parkinson’s disease research. So, I showed up at their first meeting my sophomore year and ended up becoming the vice president.”
Price played several sports as an adolescent, especially lacrosse, which she competed in at the varsity level in high school. As a college student, she’s been coaching 8–12-year-olds in a summer lacrosse league, though this summer she’ll be out of the country when the league starts up.
“I’m currently studying at Yonsei University in South Korea for my exchange semester, taking some business classes that I need to graduate in December a semester early,” Price says. “I’ll be at USC in the spring for the accelerated Master of International Business program and hope to complete that in May 2027.”
Although it was difficult at the time, Price values the experience of writing three essays as part of the application process to transfer into the international business program.
“The essays were a way to showcase our different strengths across the board, though I really struggled with talking about myself in a written format for one of them,” Price says. “I didn’t know at the time how prestigious the international business program is at South Carolina!”
After earning her bachelor’s and master’s in international business from USC, Price plans to become a paralegal and study for the LSAT during a gap year before law school.
“I think I’m aiming for the University of Minnesota for that,” she says. “I like my hometown a lot, and, as much as I’ve enjoyed my time at Carolina, I want to be somewhere colder.”