Bre’Niyah Gilbert hails from a small South Carolina town more than three hours from Clemson. Despite the distance, from the moment she arrived on campus to study nursing, she says, she never felt alone.
Denmark, South Carolina, is home to about 3,100 residents; it has a train station, a handful of traffic lights and a small downtown that’s really more of a crossroads than a city center. She was far away from family and friends, but from day one, she felt like she belonged.
It started with her first football game: “I just felt so connected to the school and community — everyone chanting the same things, being in the middle of it all. I felt like that was just the excitement I needed,” she says.
She was also part of a notable cohort of fellow students in Clemson’s Emerging Scholars program. The group of high school students from South Carolina’s I-95 corridor includes Bre’Niyah’s hometown of Denmark in Bamberg County. Students spend three years becoming college-ready and arrive at Clemson poised for success.
“Graduating from a really small high school, I wasn’t sure I could make it this far,” Bre’Niyah offers now, as she enters her senior year in the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences. The Emerging Scholars cohort she started with on campus eventually grew into a network that included a wide range of professional, personal and programmatic connections.
And now, as she prepares for graduation, she is well positioned to carry those connections into a successful nursing career.
“Clemson best prepared me to feel more confident,” she reflects. “Preparing me more for the real world as a nurse in general is part of that, but also the personal connections that I have had.
“Those helped build me and made me stronger.”
From scholarship to success
Emerging Scholars played a significant role in making Clemson financially attainable for Bre’Niyah, but it was the rigor of Clemson’s nursing program that sealed her decision to attend, along with the strong relationships already in place with her Emerging Scholars cohort.
Other participants from her hometown gave her what she describes as “built-in connections” from the beginning, which helped turn a large campus — which she had always wanted — into something more manageable. “I came in not feeling so lost,” she says.
Those personal connections, her scholarship support and, most importantly, the strong academics built into her nursing classes have all prepared her for a career in healthcare. She used her positive experiences to give back to Clemson, serving as one of 18 camp counselors to rising first-year students in the University’s 2025 Summer Scholars program. She became a counselor helping incoming students get ready for college life.
“It was a program where the kids could connect and have a little bit of college experience with their classes before Fall semester,” she recalls. “It was a great opportunity to develop leadership skills and a great community.”
Compassion and care in the curriculum
Growing up, Bre’Niyah was no stranger to doctors’ offices. A diagnosis in infancy required ongoing medical visits throughout her childhood. She realized early on that she wanted to help others who might be dealing with similar medical journeys.
“I had a patient who was going through a hard experience,” Bre’Niyah says of a recent clinical rotation. “The nurse I was shadowing was helping her through it, and there wasn’t much I could do at the time. But I got the chance to hold her hand and try to comfort her, and she appreciated that.
“Showing comfort and care for others is something the world needs more of, and I’m proud to be able to provide it.”
From the classroom to a nursing career
Challenging coursework and a demanding clinical schedule have required Bre’Niyah to strike a deliberate balance between academic excellence and extracurricular involvement. As she nears the end of her Clemson Journey, she says knowing how to strike that balance is part of what’s readied her for everything that happens next.
When she received her Clemson Ring, a cherished tradition for students as they reach the end of their college careers, it proved to be a milestone moment — both to pause and celebrate how far she’d come, and to remind her of the difficult but doable work ahead to finish her degree.
“The Ring reminds me that I got where I am; I made it this far,” she says. “I feel like that was a huge accomplishment.”
Bre’Niyah plans to kickstart her career by becoming a registered nurse. Nursing’s range of specialties leaves her options open, and after that, she is considering continuing her education to become a nurse practitioner.
“We’ll have to see from there where I go next,” she says.
With her Clemson Experience as an academic foundation and a wide range of professional experiences layered into that learning, how she chooses to build her future career in healthcare promises to be boundless.
