May 5, 2026 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
“I have found a family within the Arnold School among the faculty, staff, and classmates that I will miss so dearly, and I am not totally sure how to leave after graduation,” says Amber Buckingham, who wraps up her B.S. in Exercise Science this month. “The community I have found here has forever changed me as a student and a person for the better.”
Though she’s bound for the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue a Doctorate of Physical Therapy, the Memphis, Tennessee native will always cherish her experience at USC. With both parents spending the majority of their careers in medicine, Buckingham grew up in the health care world and knew she wanted to study either exercise science or public health. The Arnold School of Public Health offered both majors, so she knew that USC would be the perfect fit for her undergraduate degree.
During her four years in Columbia, Buckingham made the most of the resources available to her. Living in the capital city, she found opportunities for professional development such as interning at physical therapy clinics and a rehabilitation hospital.
“This is not something you can get in every city or college town,” she points out.
At the Arnold School, she served on the Dean’s Student Advisory Council, Undergraduate Lead Ambassadors, and Undergraduate Dean’s Advisory Committee. She also dove into research – spending more than three years contributing to National Institutes of Health-funded studies led by the Behavioral Eating in Research Lab and earning Graduation with Leadership Distinction in Research and the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior’s Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award.
Buckingham found mentors across the Arnold School, from the classroom to the lab and with the school’s team of undergraduate advisors. Amanda Barney, Sarah Patneaude, Caleb Morris, and Bridget Miller all played important roles advising Buckingham on her program and class selection as well as through her service work as an ambassador. Exercise science clinical assistant professor Troy Herter pushed her to realize her full potential as a student, and Brie Turner-McGrievy and Carolina Delgado-Diaz were impactful mentors in the research lab.
“All of the faculty and staff I interacted with to any extent impacted me, and they were all just as excited as I was, if not more so, when I shared updates on my graduate school application process,” Buckingham says. “Having that kind of support and encouragement is what made my whole journey possible. I truly cannot imagine completing my undergraduate degree anywhere else. The education and experiences I have received here are priceless, and if I could do it again, I would.”
With a degree in Exercise Science, graduates can choose to work in a variety of settings, either within the gym or in healthcare clinics. They have a large selection of populations to work with as well, from young children to older adults, from athletes to the disabled.
The Arnold School is proud of our 2026 graduates, who will go on to change the world locally and globally. Learn about some of the other outstanding individuals who completed one of our 34 programs this year.