She said yes to attending the Career HOP in Washington DC.
She said yes to an internship with Rob Carpenter ’88, the President and CEO of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.
And she said yes to accepting the inaugural Dale and Cathy Rothenberger Real World Experience scholarship, launched by Robert Wedeking ’90, aimed at helping students take on internships and experiences that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.
“Saying yes opened up so many opportunities for me,” she says. “But these opportunities would not have been possible without Hartwick’s support.”
The scholarship challenge was launched by Wedeking, a former Hartwick swimmer and the Chief Investment Officer at Geller Advisors LLC, who reached out to other Hartwick swimmers to match over $17,000 of his initial investment and launch the fund.
“I worked for a summer at the Princeton University investment office, where I learned about hedge funds and cutting-edge investment strategies,” he says. “It showed me how to implement what I was learning in my classes into the real world, and springboarded me into working with hedge funds.”
Wedeking came to Hartwick when he was recruited to swim by Coach Rothenberger. “Dale was such a strong influence in my life,” he says. “So this was the perfect opportunity to honor him, give back to my school and help out other students.”
“Without that scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to take this internship,” Barkley says. “Even though the internship was paid, I was still worried about being able to find a place to live while I was down there. I was able to use that fund to get settled in Baltimore.”
“This scholarship is about giving folks the opportunity to pursue activities that will help them meet their career goals,” says Wedeking.
Barkley spent the summer sitting in on client meetings, researching corporations for future investment portfolios, helping with plans for company expansion, and writing a white paper analyzing and proposing new opportunities for Baltimore.
Inspired, she wants to continue to pursue opportunities in investment banking.
“Not only is Cierra smart and talented, but she also has all the style and personality that will prove very effective in her career moving forward,” says Carpenter. “Seeing our Hartwick students in action at the Career HOP or as interns is amazing.”
“I learned so much about how to interact with clients, not just how to talk, but how to listen,” she says. “And I’m so thankful for that opportunity.”
If you wish to help grow the fund, designate your gift Dale and Cathy Rothenberger Real-World Experience Scholarship.
