RETURN ON INVESTMENT hartwick.edu/campaign • IMPACT 1 Two enterprising young Hartwick students spent the summer pursuing their dreams and jump starting their careers, thanks to support from Bob Hanft ’69 and Pat Russell Hanft ’72. The couple have endowed the College’s first scholarship dedicated to internship support. “Hartwick has great opportunities for funded international internships through the Emerson program,” Bob Hanft says. “People don’t realize the need there is for funding domestic internships, too. To deliver on our promise of experiential learning, our students need help finding internship opportunities and help financially so they can afford to do them.” A Hartwick trustee, former Board chair, and member of the College’s Internship Advisory Committee, Hanft is passionate about internships as a way for young people to get started. In September he had dinner with Director of Career Services Melissa Marietta and the first recipients of his internship fund, Justin Hoskins ’18 and Allison Homler ’18. “Students like Justin and Allison are the reason why Pat and I endowed this scholarship,” he says.”They’re focused and enthusiastic and meeting them motivated me to do more.” The couple is making additional gifts to the fully-funded endowment. “ The difference between a student’s ability to take an internship or not is not a lot of money. Their budgets are so tight, everything matters. It doesn’t take a lot to enable transformation. ” —BOB HANFT ’69 Bob Hanft ’69 and Pat Russell Hanft ’72 are Facilitating Very Different Career Opportunities for Deserving Students Bob Hanft ’69 with Justin Hoskins ’18 and Allison Homler ’18 – the first recipients of the competitive internship scholarship he and his wife, Pat Russell Hanft ’72, endowed in The Campaign for Hartwick Students. You need experience to get a job, but you cannot get a job without experience. Enter the internship. But, wait. At least half of all internships offered to college students are unpaid. So who can afford to accept an opportunity even when it knocks? Enter a targeted scholarship and two pragmatic (and generous) alumni. Finance in Manhattan The Hanfts’ support allowed Hoskins to accept an unpaid summer internship at Maxim Group LLC, which he describes as “a top-tier, full-service investment bank.” The experience took him to work in the Chrysler Building in Manhattan. “I knew I would be given an amazing learning experience with an excellent team,” says the business administration major, “but I never expected the summer that I had getting firsthand experience of this industry.” He worked as a cold caller for the firm’s equity compensation plan services, making 100 calls a day in hopes of reaching corporate CEOs. It was demanding, often exhausting work -- and he excelled. “I actually lived and worked as an adult and a full-time member of the business community in the city,” Hoskins says. “I have had direct contact with extremely successful people and learned the things that need to be done to reach their level.” Along the way, he developed transferable skills, including managing his time well, arriving to work early, dressing professionally, and communicating effectively. Ambitious and driven, at his internship he was encouraged and inspired. “I can absolutely see myself working with Maxim Group in the future,” Hoskins says. “The environment is very competitive, but comfortable. I became a young businessman this summer that is very hungry for future success. I was told to aim as high as possible, to take risks, and simply make it happen. I plan on continuing to do this in the future.” Hoskins has Hanft’s vote. “Justin has the initiative and the intestinal fortitude to work in investment banking,” says this former managing director of J.P. Morgan & Co. Scientific Field Work The Hanft Fund for Internships sent Homler in pursuit of a very different experience studying birds and inspiring children. Bob Hanft describes this biology major who is minoring in geology, writing, and environmental science & policy as “very bright, cerebral.” She is also practical and focused. Homler landed an Environmental Education Internship with the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society. Her training took her to Hog Island Audubon Camp in Bremen, ME for their Hands-on Bird Science Program. “I worked with avian experts from across the country,” she says. “These incredibly dedicated and hardworking instructors provided lessons in bird banding, tracking migrants using GPS, recording bird songs, preparing skin specimens for museums, and census taking of breeding birds.” Homler then brought the knowledge home to Oneonta. “I was sent to Hog Island to increase my knowledge and skills so that I could pass on that experience to the campers attending the John G. New Audubon Day Camp,” she says of the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society’s Franklin Mountain Sanctuary. “I was in charge of creating educational and interesting activities that would captivate the young children and increase their knowledge of natural science and environmental education.” Like Hoskins, Homler could only afford to accept the unpaid internship because of the Hanfts’ support. “This scholarship allowed me the opportunity to pursue my dream of a career in science,” she says. “I am now able to say I have experience.” IT’S THE CAREER DILEMMA OF THE MODERN AGE: