Environment & Sustainability | Finance

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES SOPHIA MASCIARELLI

Katie Fox/Old Gold & Black

UNA WILSON Asst. Features Editor

With the future of the planet uncertain, graduates like Sophia Masciarelli give hope to the fight against climate change. As an environment and sustainability studies major, Masciarelli has fully embraced Wake Forest’s interdisciplinary approach to sustainability in both her coursework and extracurricular pursuits.

Although she initially wanted to pursue a major in politics and international affairs, Masciarelli fell in love with her environmental studies classes. She shifted her studies in politics to a minor and catered her major to sustainability studies. The environment and sustainability studies major was created in Masciarelli’s sophomore year at Wake Forest.

Masciarelli recalled that Dr. Paul Thacker’s Culture and Nature course within the anthropology department was especially integral to her studies.

“I really loved the human insight element of that class and the way that anthropology as a discipline supplements environmental studies,” Masciarelli said. “Understanding the way human society evolves and how our relationship with nature has evolved alongside it really intrigued me. I think it allowed for deeper insight to the situation we’ve gotten ourselves into today with climate change.”

Thacker was equally as enthusiastic to have Masciarelli in his courses. “At the risk of sounding trite, I can confidently state that our world is better because of Sophia,” Thacker said. “Sophia is a leader committed to the practice of ethical environmentalism. Sophia thinks innovatively and explores interdisciplinary connections in everything she experiences. Our campus community will deeply miss her inspirational leadership, personal compassion, and resilient optimism.”

Although she has shifted her focus to environmentalism, Masciarelli is still interested in policy. This summer, she plans to pursue a fellowship with the Piedmont Environmental Council outside of Washington, D.C.

“In the program, we’re going to be working with issues like wind conservation, habitat restoration policy, and sustainable agriculture,” Masciarelli said. “I’m really excited to explore more in policy — to me it seems like a place you can leverage tangible change.” Though she is excited to try all sides of environmental legislation, Masciarelli is particularly passionate about environmental justice.

There’s a lot of intersections and opportunities to make positive changes around environmental justice,” Masciarelli said. “There’s so much work to be done, and I am so energized by the surge of other people passionate about environmental justice, too. As we know, this isn’t just an ecological crisis, it is connected to race and gender as well.”

Dr. Lucas Johnston taught Masciarelli in four of his courses. He spoke to her passion for the interdisciplinary nature of environmental and sustainability studies.

“Sophia came at just the right time to take advantage of our new major in environment and sustainability studies,” Johnston said. “She is an excellent testament to the sort of broad but rigorous academic background the major requires and an exemplar of why we should focus on education for sustainability.”

In addition to her academic study of the environment, Masciarelli has also dedicated much of her senior year toward her communications and events internship in the Office of Sustainability.

“My experience as an Office of Sustainability is what made my time here at Wake Forest,” Masciarelli said. “Working closely with the faculty of that office and developing a robust skillset surrounding communication of sustainability issues has been invaluable.”

After her summer with the Piedmont Environmental Council, she has another fellowship lined up at Emory University in Atlanta. She is especially excited to draw from the breadth of knowledge she has gained at Wake Forest.

“Sustainability is so interwoven with many other things,” Masciarelli said. “There’s a place for everybody in the sustainability movement, and I really believe it is the future.”

FINANCE SARAH KATE MASSEY

CONNOR MCNEELY Editor-in-Chief

If Sarah Kate Massey is anything, it’s balanced. This can be a difficult feat to accomplish at Wake Forest, where unique opportunities to involve yourself in university life abound. As a senior graduating with majors in finance and psychology, Massey is the picture of a student who used her time at Wake Forest to pursue her interests in all aspects of academics.

Although Massey will graduate with both majors, her career will undoubtedly be in finance. And when she arrived at Wake Forest from Dallas, TX, she knew it for sure.

“I was really enticed by the business school when I visited on accepted students day,” Massey said. “I remember Betsy Hoppe was the executive director of the school of business when I visited. I knew that she was a woman I would like to be when I grew up. She was one of the strong women in finance that kind of turned my decision towards finance.”

Hoppe complimented Massey and her proficiency in business.

“Sarah made an immediate impression on me,” Hoppe said. “Sarah has a personality that just draws people to her. She is incredibly intelligent, but it is her spirit of optimism and incredible enthusiasm that drew me to her.”

As Massey began her college career, she found the Pre-Wall Street Career Track, which provides early and focused professional preparation for qualified students intending to pursue careers in investment banking. This preparation was “instrumental” in the beginning of Massey’s freshman year. In the second half of her freshman year, Massey took accounting classes, which solidified her confidence in her choice of a career.

Later on, Massey was accepted into the Wake Forest School of Business. Among the many courses offered in the business school, Massey grew to enjoy Equity Investments (FIN 233).

“It was a good experience to be able to present a company to a class and have them select it and see if it was worth investing in,” Massey said. “The fact that it was real money made it all the more worthwhile. I found myself looking at my personal finances, thinking about how I should invest in different stocks that I had heard about.”

However, success in the Business School and in her studies at Wake Forest was not always unencumbered. Fortunately, Massey’s obstacles were in the form of other accolades and academic pursuits.

“One of the biggest challenges of being a finance major was that it’s just so many hours,” Massey said. “I definitely wanted to be a part of other organizations and not just be a person in finance.”

Massey is a member of the Wake Forest chapter of Chi Omega and has served as a student director for Wake ‘N Shake, working with the corporate sponsorship side of the executive team.

“It was so nice to be a part of something that’s beyond your major and classwork,” Massey said. “It was amazing actually seeing the tangible effects that [Wake ‘N Shake] had on Wake Forest Baptist right down the street.”

Massey’s career is already off to a good start. After an internship with Redbird Capital Partners, a private equity firm in Dallas, Massey found her start in investment banking at Barclays. In this work experience, she realized her passion for healthcare investment.

“I thought of it as an opportunity to merge my psych and finance focuses with behavioral health,” said Massey.

As she leaves Wake Forest, Massey will remember and miss both her time in finance and her time spent outside of finance.

“I’m really proud of what I’ve done on campus, but I think that I forgot there is like a city and a state beyond that,” Massey said. “I’m looking forward to living in New York, and to get outside of the Dallas bubble and expand my horizons.”