Engineering student ‘eternally grateful’ for J.A. Campbell Scholarship

Dominic Corso was excited about attending Campbell University this fall and studying engineering, even if he wasn't one of the initial five incoming freshmen chosen to receive the J.A. Campbell Scholarship.

Corso was not among the students announced last spring after taking part in a series of essays and interviews vying for the highly competitive full-ride scholarship. But when one of the Top 5 had to bow out, Corso was informed of his good fortune through his advisor this summer.

There's no shame in being the sixth.

"I was a little bummed out originally, and I definitely wasn't expecting a call," he recalls. "But when I got it, I was just shocked. Speechless. And eternally grateful that it all worked out."

Corso graduated third in his class and was an honor student at American Leadership Academy in Clayton this spring, while also attending classes at Johnston Community College. A native of Conventry, Connecticut (located just east of Hartford), his parents moved to North Carolina at the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020 while he was in middle school. The timing was tough - it was difficult to make new friends at a time when being social was discouraged - but Corso says the experience shaped him in a positive way.

"It forced me to reflect on who I was, and I think it made me a better person. I ended up volunteering in my new town, and eventually my grades got better," he says. "I was able to take what I learned from that experience and talk about it during the interview process [for the scholarship]."

The competition for this year's J.A. Campbell Scholarship was both larger and stronger, an initiative in President William M. Downs' new Strategic Plan to place more emphasis on enrollment growth. Hundreds applied for the scholarship, and roughly 200 were invited to campus for interviews and an essay competition.

Corso says he developed a love for engineering at a young age while visiting his father's workplace at Pratt & Whitney, an aerospace manufacturer in Middletown, Connecticut (his father moved to North Carolina to work at Collins Aerospace in Wilson). The plant in his hometown - the world's second largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer - was awe-inspiring, and Corso says a big reason he chose Campbell was for the chance to immerse in a program that encourages hands-on experience from the start.

"I toured [programs at larger schools], and I didn't feel like they connected with me," he says. "Campbell was the third school I toured and the first to accept me. I like the smaller class sizes, and the community reminds me of my hometown. And [the School of Engineering] seems like an amazing program with amazing professors."

Corso was among the hundreds of incoming freshmen to attend one of four orientations over the summer, and with classes now less than a month away, he's ready to begin his Campbell journey. And he's thankful the chips fell into place to land him a full-ride scholarship.

"College is expensive, and this scholarship is a wonderful, game-changing opportunity," he says. "I'm excited to dig in and work in a field I've wanted to be in my entire life. It's a dream come true, and I'm forever grateful."