BUILDING A FUTURE
Construction management graduate stayed active and involved at ECU
STATISTICS
Name: Leondre Horne
College: College of Engineering and Technology
Major: Construction management
Age: 22
Classification/Year: Senior
Hometown: Lexington, North Carolina
Hobbies/interests: Sports, eating, trying new restaurants, dog park with my dog, hanging with the bros.
Clubs and Organizations: TEAM (Talented, Empowered, Aspired, Men); Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity; Pirate Navigator; National Society of Black Engineers; National Association of Home Builders; Collegiate 100.
FAVORITES
Favorite hangout: Bate or student center
Favorite place on campus: CET Digital Lounge
Favorite places to eat: Hibachi Japan and Sup Dogs
Favorite class: Building information modeling
Professor who influenced you the most: Anthony Barnett
MOTIVATIONS
Dream job: Flipping houses and managing my real estate properties
Role model: Mother
Your words to live by: “You only live once.”
What advice do you have for other students? Your four years fly by. Enjoy the times, including the ups and the downs. Just remember you are here to get your degree so go to class!
What is something cool about ECU that you wish you knew during your first year? How big our study abroad program is. Try to travel abroad; the sooner the better.
Leondre Horne came to East Carolina University ready to soak in every bit of the college experience.
“You don’t come to college to just sit in your room and go to classes,” said Horne, who graduates Friday with his bachelor’s in construction management. “You have a lot of free time. You have to manage your time but have fun.”
For Horne, his fun came from involvement on campus. He joined Talented, Empowered, Aspiring Men (TEAM) as a freshman. “TEAM elevated me a lot,” he said.
Horne
He also became a Pirate Navigator as a freshman, guiding future students and their parents on tours of ECU and growing into a leadership position. “Pirate Navigators introduced me to a lot of different people, making connections and knowing how to talk to people,” he said.
And later, Horne became a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. “I was already mature, but it matured me in more ways than I thought it would,” he said. “I’ve had two years to grow in the fraternity, and a lot of people don’t get to experience that, so that put me in leadership positions, got me scholarships, conferences and connections.”
His involvement on campus also included working in the College of Engineering and Technology’s Student Success Center, where he helped advisors with their office needs and greeted visitors as they walked through the door.
“It’s kind of hard not to do well in all your classes when you’re working with your advisors,” he said. “They most definitely pushed me to the fullest.”
Horne credits his hands-on personality for his decision to go into construction management. He credits his mother for showing him the importance of a college education.
“She’s an independent woman, a single mom who raised me and my little sister,” he said. “Everything she instilled in me, she raised me to be the best man I could be. Without her, I probably wouldn’t be in college. She got her undergrad and got her master’s, so she was the one who instilled it in me. I know the route I could have easily been on if my mom wasn’t the woman she is, so it just makes me grateful, and she’s my role model for sure.”
He said his decision to come to ECU four years ago was an easy one.
“ECU has one of the best construction management programs,” he said. “Once I got accepted and I toured, between the program and the feel of the campus, it was an easy decision.”
Though his time on campus is ending, he won’t be too far away. He’s accepted a job as a project engineer with Messer Construction in Raleigh. He knows he’ll have mixed emotions during commencement.
“I’m going to be feeling shock, happiness, just full of emotions,” he said. “It’s been a quick but a long four years, between coming here, COVID and I lost my brother my senior year, so there’s been a lot of stuff going on. There will be some joyful tears, but I’m excited for sure. I’m still a little nervous, knowing I’m out of school now and in the real world. It’s time to get to it. I’m very excited and ready for the next steps.”