Growth Opportunities

For the past year, Saarah Valentin ’25 has worked on growth opportunities for BNY, exploring how AI can improve processes and efficiencies in her role as an operations analyst. Long before that, at Rollins, she was already in the business of finding her own.

An international business major, Valentin spent three years chasing every opportunity that might open a door into a career in finance. It started small with a work-study in the Office of Business & Finance, where she picked up Excel and other tools she’d rely on for years to come. A semester abroad in London came next, immersing her in the history of one of the world’s leading financial hubs and giving her an insider’s look at the hospitality industry through a finance internship at Marriott, the largest hotel company in the world. Along the way, she joined Rollins’ Women in Finance program, which took her behind the scenes at financial institutions across New York City and introduced her to an internship at BNY that would change everything.

Valentin will tell you, though, that none of it would have mattered without the people—the mentors who invested in her, the professors who challenged her, and the friends and colleagues who helped her grow.

“Rollins has shaped me in more ways than I can count,” she says. It was, after all, fellow Rollins student and Women in Finance participant, Haleigh Woloszak ’24, who introduced her to the growth opportunity that mattered most.

“She suggested I apply to the BNY internship, which was basically one giant interview,” says Valentin. “I didn’t even have to formally apply for my analyst position; they just offered it to me based on my performance as an intern. I got to spend my senior year knowing I had a job lined up when I graduated.”

Insider’s Perspective

“As part of the Women in Finance program, we went to New York and toured different financial institutions. It was eye-opening to learn from people living and working in New York about what it’s like to work in finance and to network with them. My mentor, Kate Bauernschmidt ’07 ’09MBA, gave me a tour of StoneX on Park Avenue, showed me the Bloomberg system, which was a very cool experience, and gave me advice on my resume. Getting that feedback from a working professional in the field gave me a competitive edge.”

More Than Words

“I started the Spanish club, ¡Viva la Lengua!, which translates to “long live the language,” with my friends Emily Reynolds ’25, Mia McMeans ’26, and Clara Prieto ’26 ’28MBA. The only way you’re really going to learn a language is by immersing yourself in it. That can be hard to do on campus, so we wanted a place where we could connect with other people and practice our Spanish while playing games like dominoes and enjoying local food and music.”

Global Classroom

“I chose international business because I knew that studying abroad was a requirement for the major. Going to London gave me the chance to live in a global city and work in an important financial center. I did my internship at Marriott, where I learned a lot about corporate life, which is something you can’t truly experience until you’re there. And studying abroad, you’re really on your own. I had to manage and handle all my stuff while taking the opportunity to learn everything I could about the world around me from a different angle. It truly made my undergraduate experience 100 times better.”

A Critical Foundation

“Rollins helped me understand the bigger picture. As an international business major, I learned about operations, finance, and marketing, and I’ve combined them all to solve problems in different ways and find solutions that are maybe not so obvious. In my current position, everything is about AI. How do we improve? What can we do? I’ve applied that interdisciplinary approach to work with our tech teams to find ways to reduce manual touchpoints while increasing AI accuracy.”

An Ever-Expanding Network

“I’ve met so many people at BNY from Rollins since I started here. I recently met Peter Schaefer ’18 ’20MBA, who is an associate of global payments and trade, at an alumni event. It’s just so crazy to meet all of these people whose alma mater is Rollins, and so you have that immediate connection you can build from. Networking is so important. You never know who can help you get in the door.”

The Smartest Investment

“When I first looked at Rollins, I didn’t think there was any way I could afford it. But they really found a way to make it work for my situation. Between receiving the Dean’s Scholarship, loans, and work-study, I was able to take advantage of amazing opportunities and graduate with less than $20,000 in debt. The connections I made alone have made it worth it. They got me my job at BNY.”