Photos by: Sarah Kobos, Caitlin Moore, amd Ashleigh Lancaster
In high school, they would have been known as the golden kids. Those few bright, beautiful, brainy children who seemed to have ‘it’: a special combination of natural talent, charisma and determination that made some people jealous and made others want to shove these kids in a trash can.
But we’re in college now, and the grown-up people on the following pages deserve some grown-up recognition. Though they’re all young, they’ve already run faster, sung higher, traveled farther and done more than most people will do in their entire lives. And the best part is they have no intention of stopping.
So this year, we’re happy to present the inaugural class of the Fresh 15, a collection of the most influential, brightest, baddest students who attend USC. And judging by what this year’s honorees have been able to do, next year’s group has a tough act to follow.
The Humanitarian
Ebony Sumpter By Helen Knight
“You only get one undergraduate experience,” says Ebony Sumpter, “and I treat mine as a privilege.”
Unlike many of her peers, Sumpter appreciates her time here and has used it to the fullest. The junior political science major is an Opportunity Scholar, and as such is the first member of her household to pursue a degree at a four-year college. “Many people have given up hope that there is a way out of poverty, but I have always seen education as my golden ticket,” says Sumpter. “This is not only an opportunity for me to learn, but also for me to teach.”
In 2009, Sumpter served as the World AIDS Day coordinator for USC, a position that stemmed from her work with the Office of Sexual Health and Violence Prevention, as well as her time as a community peer advocate with the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council. “Educating the campus and community, especially young women, about sexual health and violence prevention is a role that I take very seriously,” she saysr.
Sumpter plans to enter a dual-degree program in law and social work after graduation and eventually practice criminal law, especially pertaining to violence against women and children. Sumpter’s hard-earned success at USC and her unceasing drive to give back to the University and to the Columbia community are inspirational, and truly make her one of the most outstanding members of our student body.
The Lyricist
Austin Crane By Malia Griggs
At USC’s Battle of the Bands competition in 2006, Austin Crane (the band, that is) first played together with only one practice under their belts. The three judges awarded them the scores of 6, 6 and 6. “We were pretty awful,” Austin Crane (the person) muses. “Six, six, six—that’s not good. But we overcame that.”
Crane the musician began playing guitar in high school and performed solo acoustic shows. He drew inspiration from the music of Neutral Milk Hotel and David Bazan, as well as from authors Flannery O’Connor and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Crane credits Columbia’s music community for bringing the indie folk band together. After their debut, the band played random shows, and Crane’s name stuck. In the fall of 2007, he and his band members, Caleb Weathersby, James Gibson and Nathan Poole, released their first CD, “I Know My Hands.” Their second CD, “Place at the Table,” came out in October 2009.
As the primary songwriter and vocalist in the band, Crane composes melodies and lyrics, and the full band arranges. “I bring a loose skeleton to the table, and we put meat on it,” he jokes, “and then we eat it.” He prefers his songs to communicate different messages to different people, and the resulting pieces of music are haunting and elusive. Band member Nathan Poole says of Crane: “Austin is a really sincere guy. You learn quickly you can’t detach him from his songs.”
Dark-haired and affable, you might have noticed Crane at Hill of the Lord church or as your barista at Immaculate Consumption. A South Carolina native, Crane is a senior double major in economic development and Russian. As part of his Honors thesis, he is putting the stories of the Old Testament into song. “Music is a huge joy for me,” Crane says when asked about his future. “But I’ve realized that growing up is a process of saying ‘yes’ to some things and ‘no’ to others, and I’m trying to figure out what that means.”
Crane is content with his life just as it is. “If I can play at New Brookland Tavern, and good people enjoy it, I’m happy with that,” he says.
Readers can check out Austin Crane’s MySpace or purchase their songs on iTunes.
The Next Big Thing
Haley Dreis By Maddie McDowell
Haley Dreis, a junior from Winston-Salem, N.C., spends her days “spinning a web of triplets and melodies,” a striking description that comes directly from her own song “Dancing to a Symphony.” Dreis is a talented singer-songwriter, and it is abundantly clear from the first ten-second sampling of her pop album “Beautiful to Me” that she is USC’s very own rising star.
Dreis’ background lies in classical violin, which she began playing at age six, and she has always had a deep love for classical music. However, she said she has “never been afraid to listen to something new, trying something new.”
So, when Dreis arrived on campus after attending the North Carolina School of the Arts for high school, she began to broaden her horizons.
Dreis’ first time publicly playing pop music was at USC’s Acoustic Café last April.“I wasn’t even planning on it at all,” Dreis says, “I’m a classical violin major so this was just out of my element.” She just wanted to have a good time.
And she did. “I had a blast,” she recalls with a smile. “I couldn’t stop writing music. I just literally went home that summer, and I just wrote a ton of songs. That’s when I wrote my whole album.”
Since then, Dreis has gone on to release her complete album, play in venues across the state and win the Carolina Productions Battle of the Bands competition. Unfortunately, this simple article is incapable of doing justice to the musical wonder that is Haley Dreis.
“When I listen to just instrumental music, I feel like something’s lacking; when I read poetry, I feel like something’s lacking. When you put the two together you can make words pop off the page,” says Dreis.
If only we could ask her to set this to music.
The Brain Trust
Erin Weeks By Jessica Hardin
Erin Weeks’ brainiac status has landed her a spot on our Fresh 15. This girl not only makes the grades but also actively participates in organizations on campus. Weeks is pursuing a Baccalaureate degree, which she deems “somewhat unusual”. In this ‘construct your own degree program,’Weeks is concentrating on English literature and language, and economic studies. “I like that I can take some English, but take a biology as well,” says Weeks.
Weeks has worked on 2 publications during her stint at USC, including The Lettered Olive, as well as co-founding Zeitgeist, a forum for undergraduate intellectual articles. “My freshman year at The Lettered Olive we had access to an antique letterpress,” remembers Weeks. Spending hours at that press working on her journal is a lasting memory. She has also worked with SAGE, and though she is involved, she stresses that her focus is entirely academic.
Weeks’ academic effort has been awarded with “an amazing scholarship” and backed with both help and support provided by her teachers in the Honors College. Weeks believes USC has given her every imaginable opportunity to succeed and hopes to one-day repay the favor by teaching. “I would probably go to Korea, but Teach for America is a great program too,” says Weeks when asked where she would like to start giving back. Why Korea? Possibly because she has fallen in love with the food, though undoubtedly she has other reasons. Until then, she must settle for Korean Cuisine here in Columbia.
“There are a number of great Korean places on Decker Boulevard,” says Weeks, “especially Arirang.”
Though she doesn’t expect to leave a legacy after graduation, this Brain Trust member is bound to leave a trail of success anywhere she goes.
Jeremy Gleaton By Justin Fenner
Jeremy Gleaton owes his interest in chemistry to one of his little cousin McKenley’s bathroom breaks.
McKenley was “five at the time, and very mischievious,” Gleaton, a senior chemistry major, says. Gleaton, McKenley, Gleaton’s sister and another cousin were swimming when McKenley got out of the pool to go to the bathroom.
“We didn’t realize it, but he was urinating on the pool chemicals,” which, at the time, were stored in an open Tupperware container.
“Two or three minutes later, we looked over, and the container was boiling, frothing,” Gleaton says.
Gleaton put a top on the container, and “ten minutes later, there was a huge explosion,” he says. “It literally sounded like a shotgun.”
Since that incident, Gleaton has logged a lot of time in laboratories, working with and around organic chemistry. He spent his first two years of college at USC Aiken, where he had a yearlong internship with the Deparment of Energy. Then he came to the Columbia campus and immediately started working in the graduate research center on “different organic chemistry synthesis stuff.”
That hands-on experience earned him an internship at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center this past summer, where he helped develop a technique to turn plastic food wrappers into fuel.
“Plastic is mostly composed of carbon, so what they’re trying to do is use pyrolysis and capture the carbon dioxide that comes off and take that carbon dioxide and convert it to methane,” Gleaton says. For the lay people, Gleaton explains, pyrolysis “essentially breaks up the plastic into its different elements.”
Gleaton says the process will probably be used on the lunar outpost NASA wants to have up and running by 2020. On the Moon.
And though his work is already out of this world, Gleaton says his ultimate goals are simple. “I just want to be a well respected and well-known in my career,” he says. “I just want to be that go-to guy. I respect people like that.”
Anna Walton By Catherine Doyle
As the editor-in-chief of Impulse – an online, international neuroscience journal – USC senior Anna Walton brings a whole new definition to the term“brainiac.”
Impulse, focused on undergrad research, was founded in 2003. Last year, they organized the first Brain Awareness Week, which consisted of ten lectures focusing on different neuroscience issues.
Walton, a biology and Spanish major, says she got involved with the magazine thanks to the Honors College.
“The Honors College really helps because they really focus on personal interaction. They’re invested in their students,” Walton says. “One of the Honors College deans was the one who started Impulse. I took her class on scientific publications, met her and connected with Impulse.”
The Alpha Epsilon Delta member has received numerous accolades based on her academic success, such as the Palmetto Fellows, Dean’s Scholarship, and University Scholar’s Scholarship, in addition to the Magellan Scholar fellowship and the Journeyman Exploration Scholars program..
Walton believes the secret to her academic success is “to look at classes and academics as something that is going to better you and as a privilege to have this opportunity. And to not be scared of your professors. They are there for you and they are just people.”
Not only does the future medical student keep up with her studies, she is also extremely involved with the Good Samaritan Clinic, a non-profit clinic that primarily serves the Hispanic community.
Walton has become so involved in the clinic that she started Amigos Del Buen Samaratano. This USC group helps the clinic in various ways, working with the health education system to recruit student volunteers.
Most recently, Walton was recognized at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast and awarded the Student Award for Social Justice.
“It made me realize all my work has a purpose,” claims Walton, who hopes to “increase understanding and openness of all other cultures in the United States, as well as increasing and improving access to health care for under-served populations.”
The Entertainers
Rik-a-Sha By Jade McDuffie
On a dreary Sunday afternoon, the ladies of Rik-a-Sha gathered around the Blatt lobby to host their information session. You may have seen them out on Greene Street at the spring organization fair handing out flyers and encouraging interested students to come see what they are all about.
According to Terrin Mobley, a senior exercise science major, Rik-a-Sha is a dance group that performs to various styles and has “a really good time doing it.”
When recruiting new members, the group is open to any and everybody who loves to dance—even boys.
“It’s really just someone who is passionate about dance. A lot of us don’t have experience with technique, so it’s not an organization where you have to have been dancing for a certain amount of years. There are no prerequisites,” says Britney Walker, a junior marketing and management major.
Rik-a-Sha became a student organization in the fall of 2007. There are currently 15 girls in the group and they come together three times per week for two hours to practice their routines. They practice even more when they have a performance coming up. Mobley and Amber Smalls, a senior computer engineering major, are the main choreographers, but they encourage everyone to take a shot at coming up with routines.
This year they have participated in the Spurs and Struts homecoming competition as well as various pageants and talent shows hosted by Greek organizations on campus. They also collaborated with USC’s own “R & B princess” Mary Liz and performed with her at Carolina After Dark.
All the girls agree that performing is extremely rewarding. When asked how they feel when entertaining everyone agreed that there’s nothing like it.
“That feeling—that rush of adrenaline that you get right before you go on stage and right when you come off stage and you hear the applause and people appreciate what you have portrayed—there’s just nothing like it. I love it,” says Walker.
The Ingenue
Adrianne Eby By Lauren Ford
Even when she’s 1,600 miles away in Costa Rica, Adrianne Eby’s enthusiasm for dance and theater is palpable back in Columbia. Eby, a junior in the Honors College studying marketing, management and theater, has had a passion for performing since she was 3 years old. “When I dance it feels more natural to me than walking,” Eby says.
If performing comes naturally to Eby, then she’s spent a lot of time here at USC in her natural state. The Ohio native has performed in the USC productions of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “Oh What A Lovely War,” “Mr. Marmalade” and “A Night of Ten-Minute Plays” as well as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Evita” at Trustus Theatre.
“I love the challenge of getting into a character’s head, discovering how they move and talk, as well as getting that applause at the end of the night,” Eby says. Most memorable for her is Martha Hearn’s improv show “Clowns” in which she created her own clown character. “I’ve never felt so in touch with a character. Not to mention I now have a full body unitard and friends for life,” she says.
This semester has taken her from the dreary winter of Carolina to the tropical jungles of Costa Rica. Eby was granted funding to create a project on salsa dancing and Hispanic culture by the Honors College Exploration Scholarship. “My project is a big reason why I came to Costa Rica. It’s amazing how vital dance is to the social part of Tico life,” says Eby.
As for the legacy she wants to leave behind her when she graduates, the goal is clear. “I want to be remembered as someone who took on challenges.” Given her impressive theatrical resume and sterling academic record: goal accomplished.
The Visionary
Michael McClendon By Gregory Goetz
Michigan native Michael McClendon has an eye for things. What’s more, he’s got a video camera for things, too. A junior in the media arts department, McClendon’s impressive resume, by the years, includes:
- Freshman — Winner of USC’s “Got Film?” competition and the prestigious “Young Grit” award at the annual Indie Grits Film Festival
- Sophomore — Directed a commercial featured during the 2009 Super Bowl for Little Caesar’s and WIS, aired locally throughout the Midlands
- Junior — Directed USC’s “Signing Day” public service ad, aired on ESPN, ESPN2, CBS and ABC
When reflecting on these achievements, McClendon is appreciative of the opportunities USC has presented him, especially through networking.
“The chance to interact with such talented students in media arts has been the foundation to every one of these. I’m reluctant to say “my projects” here, because my peers have made some of the best crews I could ever ask for. Without them, none of these would have happened.”
Along with his inarguably inherent skills, this team effort mentality initiated a ripple effect for McClendon. When his film “Robot High School” won Indie Grits, doors began to fly open.
“After Robot High School, I was lucky to meet my shooting partner, Phillip Soellner, with whom I directed the Super Bowl commercial, and I still work with him today. From there, USC put its faith in me to direct it’s “Signing Day” PSA. Who knows what might happen next?”
While this question may seem daunting, McClendon’s complementation of talent with ambition is making for a bright tomorrow, even if this involves making a few tough decisions.
“While I love directing, I feel that editing is my strong point, which may be the focus of my dedication later. I love Columbia, but I’m also attracted to the big cities like Atlanta or New York, where hopefully I’ll get to work on films or commercials… just not reality TV,” McClendon laughs.
Always working on the next project, it seems as if this visionary junior is having no trouble at seeing the future.
To view McClendon’s videos, visit:
http://vimeo.com/michaelmcclendon/videos
The Olympians
LaKya Brookins By Kyle Kemp
If you blink, you may just miss out on one of USC’s brightest athletic talents on campus. Women’s track star LaKya Brookins has been racking up the accolades in her years here as a sprinter, reaching the top last year by winning the NCAA 60-meter dash national championship with a time of 7.13 seconds.
“Winning the national title was definitely my favorite memory here at South Carolina,” Brookins says.
She isn’t going to stop at just one title, though. In the opening weekend of the indoor season, Brookins earned SEC Runner of the Week honors after recently winning the 60-meter dash at the Virginia Tech Invitational. With her early season performance, she remains a top contender to defend her national title in the 2010 season.
Still, Brookins can’t always live her life in the fast lane. When she does get a chance to slow down, Brookins likes to spend her free time with several relaxing activities.
“I enjoy reading, hanging out with my teammates, and (I) really like traveling every chance I get,” Brookins says.
If her body allows it, Brookins says she wants to keep pursuing running after graduation and see where it takes her. As her USC career comes to a close this season, Brookins has a simple desire for how her legacy will stand.
“I hope to be remembered at USC by not only what I have accomplished in track, but as the person I am and how I represented this University.”
So as this spring semester continues, make sure you keep an eye on LaKya Brookins – that is, if your eyes can keep up.
Diego Cubas By Robert Locke
Diego Cubas has seen a lot of drastic changes in the last two years. The Brazilian from Santa Catarina grew up playing against many of the elites of the tennis world; opponents like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Juan Del Potro, all of whom are ranked in the global top five. In 2004, Cubas played in the Davis Cup representing Brazil, which he calls “his best moment playing tennis.” Unfortunately, while playing a tour in Europe, Cubas injured his back from repeated strain, leaving him unable to pursue his passion for a year and a half.
After his recovery, Cubas was recruited by several colleges around the nation. Once he met with USCcoaches Ken Demars and Jeff Kefalos, Cubas committed to come to school here. Since then, his game has steadily improved, something he attributes to the coaching staff. Last year as a junior, Cubas finished the season ranked No. 47 in singles and No. 27 in doubles with Ivan Machado. He won a career high 21 matches and collected five wins against ranked opponents, two of them in the top five. Much of this success can be credited to his team-first attitude and a lot of hard work. When asked about his legacy at USC, Cubas says he simply wants his team to finish top 15 and host a national tournament, a goal he sees as attainable this season. He also knows the work required to achieve such a task. “Every time I come to practice I try to play as hard as I can, and I’m playing better each day,” he says.
Though his immediate goals revolve around tennis, Cubas has never forgotten what it means to be a student athlete. A finance and economics major, Cubas plans to graduate this spring and move back to Brazil, pursuing a business-related. If he is half as successful off the court as he is on it, Cubas will be welcome addition to any community or company.
Wesley Bryan By Garrett Barkley
Fans of golf like to refer to the sport as the ultimate gentleman’s game. It is only fitting, then, that USC’s most promising golfer, Wesley Bryan, is just that. Whether he is posting stellar numbers on the links or helping teach young athletes at his father’s golf academy near Chapin, Bryan impresses both on and off the golf course.
Bryan, a sophomore retailing major, earned all-SEC honors as a freshman last year, and has continued to team up this season with his older brother George, a senior golfer for Carolina, to help carry the Gamecocks to a current top 15 ranking.
Several years ago, though, many of Bryan’s friends and family might’ve been surprised to find out that he would be having such a successful career with the Gamecocks. This is due not to doubting his ability as a golfer, but because he grew up an ardent Clemson supporter.
“Oh, yeah. I had Clemson everything. Posters, pillows, everything,” recalls Bryan.
His opinion of USC quickly changed, though, as he headed on the recruiting trail.
“I saw that more opportunities would be given to me here [at USC] than Clemson.”
This was lucky for USC, too, as Bryan will likely be the marquee player on the team over the next two years. But, Bryan says his success as a golfer isn’t the most important thing for people to remember when they look back on his career at USC.
“I just want to be remembered as a good person and a good Christian. Someone people can look up to. But, being remembered as one of the best golfers USC has ever had would be nice, too.”
If Bryan continues on his current path, he has the ability and level-headedness to easily accomplish both of these goals.
The Class Clown
Max Lasser By Michael Lambert
A dark-haired guy who towers over most, Max Lasser just has that “funny” look to him. Of course, this isn’t the funny that makes you cross the street or call your mom. He’s the funny that you want to be around, that invites you into a conversation and leaves you positively whirling with laughter. No matter your sense of humor — whether you’re as dry as the Mojave or as quirky as Michael Scott — Max Lasser has a joke in store for you.
Lasser looks at comedy as something pretty inclusive. “People who are funny are awkward,” he says, “but so are people who are ‘with it,’ who’ve got the girlfriends and the looks and everything else.” There’s something funny in us all, and to some extent, something to make fun of.
His start as a comedian came from his work as a comedic writer. But there was something lacking, that “in the moment” feeling, as he puts it. He wanted that dramatic element and that audience response — the edifying rumble of laughs, high and low. He’ll admit he “bombed and bombed” his first routines and even practiced his delivery with a friend active in debate. That practice made his material “more sexy” in his eyes, and his third performance became his first that he felt truly on his game.
Lasser, with a win at USC’s Student Comedy Competition under his belt, has more plans for comedy at the University. He just received approval for “News From Last Thursday” (or NLT), a satirical newspaper for USC whose online issue will soon be in production. His goals for himself at USC focus on projects like this.
“I don’t want people talking about me after I leave,” he says. “I want the stuff I do to still be around. I want stuff like NLT to be so ingrained in everyday campus life that you forget it’s even there.”
Truly, like a favorite joke, Max Lasser is a personality USC will find hard to forget.
The Queen Bee
Maya Procinsky By Stephanie Durso
Senior accounting major Maya Procinsky can be seen buzzing around campus from one organization to another. This queen bee is way more than just a pretty face, and her impressive resume makes it obvious why she was crowned USC’s Homecoming Queen.
When Procinsky was just a freshman Zeta, she remembers seeing the senior that they nominated for Queen. “I want to be her some day,” Procinsky remembers thinking.
When it came her turn this year to be nominated, she felt like it was an honor to represent her chapter. Reflecting on the four years leading up to being crowned, Procinsky says, “If I hadn’t gone here, my life wouldn’t have been the same.”
Ever since Procinsky became a Gamecock, she’s joined as many groups as her schedule would allow. Between Garnet Circle, Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board, senior council, social chair for her sorority, and Big Brothers Big Sisters, it’s a wonder she ever had time to come up with a talent for the Homecoming Showcase, but true to her abilities, Procinsky brought a little bit of flair to Showcase this year with a traditional Ukranian folk dance. Although she modestly claims to not have much stage talent, with the help of YouTube, her parents and her roommate, Procinsky came through with a dance worthy of her Queen Bee title.
When asked about her favorite aspect of USC, Prockinsky says, “Getting to know so many people…I made friends here that I’ll always have forever.” She leaves this message for new students:
“Get involved as a freshman, don’t just sit around. College is what you do and what you make of it.”
The Environmentalist
Ivey Kaiser By Tiffany Melanis
Whether she’s leading a SAGE meeting, running a sustainable shopping clinic at the Strom or being belayed up a 50-foot tree to save her cat, Ivey Kaiser is a driven individual destined to make a difference in the environment.
“Let me just say that there is not a single office in this city that will help you get a cat out of a tree,” Ivey says.
The senior geography major says her love and concern for a healthier earth started during her middle school camp days in the mountains of North Carolina.
“Their philosophy was centered around not being wasteful and being concerned with the natural environment. The people I met there encouraged me to take more action in my personal life.”
Ivey shows her passion for the environment by being involved in promoting a greener Carolina. President of SAGE (Students Advocating a Greener Environment), intern at Green Quad Learning Center for Sustainable Futures, Sustainability Manager of Outdoor Recreation at the Strom and outdoor recreation leader are all titles she has accumulated in her persuit to staying green.
As newly appointed SAGE president, Ivey is trying to reach abroader group of students by holding Sounds of Sustainability, a sustainable concert at Green Quad held April 22.
“I thought the best way to get the attention of students would be through music and having bands speak about various environmental issues and ways students can easily make changes in their lives to help promote the overall health of the environment.”
After graduation, Ivey hopes to work with an environmental advocacy group focusing on looking into urban planning.
What she hopes to leave the student body with is this message:
“Continue decreasing your consumption of material goods and energy and realize your power as a young person to be able to make changes on (the) campus and local governmental levels.”
The Freshest: Founding Father
Jason Wagenheim By Justin Fenner
When the going gets tough in the offices of the Garnet and Black, we at the magazine ask ourselves a simple little question: WWJD?
What would Jason do?
Jason Wagenheim, founding editor of Garnet and Black, is a constant source of inspiration and encouragement for those of us who work to produce this magazine. After all, you wouldn’t be reading this if it weren’t for him.
“I wrote in the first editor’s letter, ‘You’re holding in your hands the birth of a USC tradition,’” says Wagenheim, who graduated from USC’s journalism school in 1995 and now works as the associate publisher of Vanity Fair magazine. “I hoped that it would still be around 15 years later, and I had the confidence that it could be.”
It’s that brand of optimistic determination – plus the skills that he first developed in Student Media as editor of The Gamecock (it wasn’t daily when he was in school) and later at the Garnet and Black – that has taken Wagenheim to such great heights in the publishing industry.
“I was very fortunate to have been set up by my experience in Student Media to help carry me through the rest of my career,” Wagenheim says. “I owe everything that I have been able to do since college to my career in Student Media.”
Wagenheim says his current job “is not dissimilar to what we did at Garnet and Black Quarterly back then.” Currently, he’s focused on keeping the 95-year-old magazine competitive at a time when the future of such publications is being challenged.
Wagenheim’s reality is a dream for many of us here at the magazine. Knowing that someone who used to work here has gone on to do such great things makes us hopeful that great things lie ahead for us, too.
So here’s a health, Jason. To you, and to another 15 years of Garnet and Black.
