From Raleigh, N.C., Mary Kate Englehardt has certainly left her mark on the Wake Forest community during her four years, majoring in finance with a minor in Spanish and being heavily involved in the campus community.
Studying abroad in Argentina during high school intrigued Englehardt’s interest in diving further deep into finance when she witnessed firsthand the economic issues a country like that was facing, with problems such as currency fluctuations.
While deciding between colleges, Englehardt was making her final decision between UNC-Chapel Hill and Wake Forest.
“I fell in love with Wake Forest the first day I came here,” Englehardt said. “Even when I was considering other schools, I kept coming back to Wake [Forest]. It very much felt like home, even from the first day I toured it.”
Engleheaardt’s interests and choices stem from her passions surrounding economic impact and wanting to make a difference in the people around her.
“Finance has the power to be super impactful, and I’m extremely passionate about that,” Englehardt said. “A lot of the world cannot progress and move further without financial knowledge, and it truly does have the power to transform people’s lives.”
When deciding what to study, Englehardt wanted to use her talent in math and science to impact her community as positively as she could.
“The nature of business is very international, and all markets are connected and cultural knowledge about other countries is the key to financial progress, and I strongly believe that they go hand in hand,” Englehardt said.
On campus, Englehardt is involved in the Pre Wall Street Career Track Program, the professional fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi as well as the Investing Club. Englehardt would like to credit the Pre Wall Street Career Track for really bringing her to the forefront of her interest in finance.
According to Englehardt, after being accepted into the program during freshman year, the first two years of membership consist of high involvement. Once a week, members have to discuss and debate current market events in order to build not only financial knowledge but also professional skills — which Englehardt described as the “armor” you need to succeed in finance.
“I knew nothing about finance coming into it,” Englehardt said. “I do think finance is a major that attracts people who already know things about finance, but the Pre Wall Street Program was a huge factor in helping me understand and build my interest towards finance.”
Being a finance major always has a big awkward question attached to it because the assumption is that it is a male-saturated field, but Englehardt believes that change is happening.
“I think it used to be true that this is a male-dominated industry, but I don’t think it holds true anymore,” Englehardt said. “At least at Wake Forest, there have been big strides to make an active change surrounding that. At the end of the day, what brings us together is that we all share the same interests and goals.”
Englehardt believes that at the end of her time at Wake Forest, her area of study has helped her become a more globally sound person.
“It has helped me understand how the complex world works, a lot better, which in turn I believe enables you to be much more empathetic,” Engleheart said.
Following her graduation from Wake Forest, Engleheart will be moving to Charlotte to work at the Bank of America in leveraged finance as an investment banking analyst. Having worked at Bank of America for the last two years, she said that the company feels very much like home.
“I enjoy going places where I know everyone and where I feel like I make a difference and people know I am. I’m excited to build on the two years I have established over there.”
