Story by Rachel Curry
Image Courtesy Lehigh Athletics
And how Corinne Lyght ’25 uses that to her advantage.
When Corinne Lyght ’25 (pictured) was choosing schools to apply to, she knew she didn’t want to be just another number. Ending up at Lehigh Business, she got exactly what she was looking for. “The Lehigh community cares about your individuality, your uniqueness,” says Lyght.
Despite the solid fit, Lyght’s freshman year was still a challenge. A strong soccer athlete, she got a concussion during a soccer game within the first week of the year. “It couldn’t have been worse timing,” Lyght says. After weeks of physical and emotional recovery, she came back stronger than ever and even earned the Patriot League’s Rookie of the Week accolade.
While Lyght has always been gung-ho about soccer, she says this injury, as well as later difficulties in the sport, gave her a deeper understanding of herself. “I began to realize soccer is only one aspect of who I am,” she says.
Over the summer, Lyght worked as an intern in New York City for JLL, a commercial real estate and property investment firm. The internship fostered her interest in finance and real estate. She enjoyed the hustle culture of New York City, she says. “As an athlete, a hustle and ‘work hard’ attitude is what I know. I felt right at home in that type of environment.”
Over the course of her undergraduate career, Lyght has earned athletic achievements like 2022 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, as well as academic achievements, including becoming a Tauck Scholar and spending time studying in Milan and Dublin. Through all of this, the two sides of her life, sports and school, have remained inextricably linked.
Today, Lyght remains involved as a co-captain of the Student-Athlete Mentors organization at Lehigh. When she was a freshman, she was paired with two SAMs, who took her under their wing. “I really felt like they made an impact on my life,” she says. “I want to return the favor; I’m in my third year working with SAM.”
Lyght has also been able to speak on panels for potential students. These panels give her the opportunity to share how much Lehigh College of Business has to offer. One thing she likes to emphasize with younger people is the idea that you don’t have to have it all figured out.
“Sometimes you don’t know what you are going to like until you get there. You need to have a little patience with yourself.”
In the midst of her internship, Lyght wakes up at 6:30 a.m. every morning (or earlier, if she wants to workout) to catch an early bus to the city from her family’s New Jersey home. She’s home by 8:30 p.m. or later. During this period of time, she has learned more than ever that she can’t do everything. “I figure out what I’m doing tomorrow, without worrying too far into the future,” she says.
Lyght adds, “The business school prepares you well for the future. Realizing how many things I can do because of this place, the opportunities I have, gives me inspiration and satisfaction. There are so many things, both in soccer and in my professional work life that I would have never have been able to do if I had gone to another school.”