Student Experience

Get Involved Beyond the Classroom

• Entrepreneurship Living Learning Community (E-LLC)

  The Honors Entrepreneurship Living Learning Community (E-LLC) is a mentoring community intended for first-year Honors College students. It has a heavy focus on entrepreneurship as well as helping students to achieve their Big Hairy Audacious Goals, or BHAGS.

  E-LLC students develop the entrepreneurship mindset – allowing them to solve any problem that arises in their community. There is no specific major students in the Honors Entrepreneurship Living Learning Community need to have, just a desire to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. 

  The main mantra behind the Honors Entrepreneurship Living Learning Community is that consumers don't buy a product, they buy a story.

  As a part of the Honors ELLC, students will learn how to do just that; tell their stories.

  What You Get From the E-LLC

  • Ability to identify and solve problems revolving around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
  • Incredible pitching skills
  • Professional networking opportunities
  • Exclusive research and internship opportunities

  Coursework

  As a student in the E-LLC, you'll take HONS 205 Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice during the fall of your first semester. Additionally, you'll have priority registration for HONS 390 Honors ImpactX.

  The connections I made during my time in the ELLC I will keep for the rest of my life.

  Interested in getting involved with the Entrepreneurship Living Learning Community? Reach out to Professor Affonso.

• Entrepreneurship Competitions

  The Center for Entrepreneurship offers several competitions throughout the year where students can showcase their entrepreneurship skills and win REAL money.

  Impact X Demo Day
  Each semester, the top students from every Impact X cohort have the opportunity to pitch their projects at Demo Day. Judged by an expert panel, teams at Demo Day can walk away with over $10,000 to start their businesses.

  D.E.M.O.S. Pitch Competitions
  The Disability and Entrepreneurship: Models of Success (D.E.M.O.S.) initiative supports the development of innovations that fully incorporate principles of Universal Design in business models. A core element of these competitions is the emphasis on educating entrepreneurs about the genuine value that individuals with disabilities bring to the workplace and their value as customers.

  S.C. Innovates Pitch Competition
  This statewide pitch competition leverages the power of Global Entrepreneurship Week to encourage any and all South Carolina college students to develop and pitch their promising business ideas and compete for thousands in cash.

  Gender Equity Pitch Competition
  The School of Business invites female students of all disciplines to enter our Gender Equality Pitch Competition. Up to seven students are selected to present a one-minute elevator pitch describing a gender equality problem and their actionable solution.

• Founders Club

  Find a community of student entrepreneurs beyond the classroom. The Founders Club is a student organization for those interested in exploring the world of entrepreneurship.

  The Founders Club offers resources to help you begin the next great startup such as:

  • a network of experienced founders
  • peer-to-peer coaching
  • access to local professionals
  • exclusive business development resources

  Follow the club on Instagram to keep up with meetings and guest speakers.

  Follow the Founders Club