Sophomore Rebecca Mason is continuing a family tradition at South Carolina — but it’s a step beyond just rooting for the Gamecocks.

From Clemson, South Carolina, Mason and her family have chosen to support an endowed scholarship within the Moore School. Each of the Mason family members have created endowed scholarships at their individual higher education institutions and alma maters.

Within the Moore School, Mason is an accounting and operations and supply chain student; she is minoring in psychology and is pursuing the Business Analytics Undergraduate Concentration.

Rebecca was inspired by her parents, who after receiving scholarships to study engineering and textiles and apparel at the University of Texas at Austin, established their own endowments at their respective departments. Along with Mason’s scholarship implemented at the Moore School this year, the family also established an endowment at her brother’s institution, Texas A&M University, in the chemical engineering department.

“Throughout our lives, we have been incredibly blessed and worked incredibly hard to get to the point we are today,” Mason said. “Along the way, there have been people who have supported us and encouraged us to continue moving forward, even when times are tough and when things get difficult. Because of this, we want to give back.”

Mason specifically chose to fund an endowed scholarship at the Moore School because she wants to encourage more women to choose business majors.

“It is the premier business school in the state of South Carolina, and the scholarship will create future thought leaders that will help the South Carolina economy and beyond,” she said. “I established my endowment because I noticed that women were underrepresented in my Moore School classes. Creating this endowment, I plan to provide funds to help support students who are underrepresented in the business school.”

Mason has already overcome challenges herself in her first year as a Moore School pre-business student. She said when the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted her senior year of high school, she was able to coast through her final months ahead of graduation.

She realized when she got to the Moore School that she needed a “studying wake-up call,” which she experienced in her introductory accounting course.

“I had to relearn how to study for exams and learn material to apply it, rather than just memorize it,” Mason said. “After failing early exams, I worked with my professor in office hours, learning the material and relearning how to study. My efforts paid off, and I received the grade I worked for.”

Her first year at USC taught her that she was allowed and encouraged to make mistakes and learn from them; her first major lesson further developed her resiliency and showed her how to persevere when she was struggling. She hopes future recipients of her scholarship will learn those same lessons in the Moore School as they work toward their goals.