Hatter Ready
The Power of Experiential, Contemporary, and Integrative Learning
Drawing on a rich tradition of providing immersive learning opportunities for students, Stetson University launches a new program to drive student outcomes.
Now more than ever, students and their families want a return on their investment in college.
Hatter Ready provides a tried-and-true roadmap to success by guaranteeing that all students receive transformative experiences like hands-on learning, research, internships, study abroad, and more.
Immersive Hands-on Learning
As a high school student, Sugeeth Sathish took almost every course required for an economics major while he was dual enrolled at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He looked at many colleges, including Ivy League institutions.
Then, he visited Stetson and made his decision after learning about the Roland George Investments Program, where students manage a portfolio of nearly $7 million.
Now a senior, Sathish will graduate this May and has already accepted a job at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker on Wall Street.
“Learning those skills and getting those opportunities on my resume, Stetson has been invaluable,” said Sathish, a triple major in finance, accounting and economics.
Immersive Hands-on Learning
As a high school student, Sugeeth Sathish took almost every course required for an economics major while he was dual enrolled at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He looked at many colleges, including Ivy League institutions.
Then, he visited Stetson and made his decision after learning about the Roland George Investments Program, where students manage a portfolio of nearly $7 million.
Now a senior, Sathish will graduate this May and has already accepted a job at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker on Wall Street.
“Learning those skills and getting those opportunities on my resume, Stetson has been invaluable,” said Sathish, a triple major in finance, accounting and economics.
"The return on investment in college is greatest when students are immersed in learning both inside and outside the classroom — with professors, classmates, friends, and professionals in their chosen career path. This commitment to lifelong learning underlies Stetson's relationship-rich and experiential approach to education."
Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD
Undergraduate Research
Germaine Smart-Marshall started at Princeton University last fall, working on a PhD in molecular biology — a path she never imagined she could pursue.
She arrived at Stetson with plans to attend medical school. Once inside the science labs, Smart-Marshall worked closely with expert professors and discovered a passion for research.
She conducted anticancer research for her senior project and won an Honorable Mention at Stetson Showcase, one of the oldest Undergraduate Research Days in the U.S.
She also was selected for a yearlong program at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, where she conducted more cancer research and presented her findings at a scientific conference (photo, right).
“Stetson really opened my eyes to what I could achieve,” she said. “It’s definitely because of the environment that we have at Stetson, as well as the professors.”
"The challenge for Stetson was to reallocate faculty time to maximize experiential learning opportunities for students. Across the university, this reallocation allowed faculty to launch dozens of new immersive learning options for students in this year alone."
Stetson Provost Elizabeth Skomp, PhD
Mentoring in a Relationship-Rich Culture
Wyatt Sise knew in high school that he wanted to be a lawyer and attended Stetson on its top merit scholarship.
He excelled in classes and took advantage of experiential learning opportunities. He loved the Moot Court Team, which advanced to the 2024 AMCA National Championship, where he was named a “Top Orator.”
He also formed close working relationships with renowned professors as advisors and mentors. “I was in the History Department, and we had faculty who had literally written the book on different subjects,” he said.
After studying abroad in Spain, he wrote his senior thesis on the bombing of Guernica by the German Luftwaffe. Professor Eric Kurlander, PhD, a leading expert and scholar on Nazi Germany, served as his thesis advisor.
“When I look back at my Stetson journey, those professors really shaped me as a person, as a scholar and as a future lawyer,” said Sise, who now attends Cornell Law School as a recipient of its top merit scholarship.
Internships
Hali'a Locke-Nascimento needed an internship to graduate when she saw a perfect opportunity.
An aquatic and marine biology major, she applied for a program at Kupu, an environmental nonprofit in her native Hawaii. She was honored to be selected as a steward in Miloli'i, the state’s last historic fishing village.
She transitioned out of the internship and now continues to work for Kupu in the fishing village. She helps another nonprofit, Kalanihale, as an operations assistant and marine biologist monitoring and studying the fishing stock in a protected offshore area.
“We’ve got about 18.6 miles that we monitor, so that people can still live off of their traditional practices,” she said. “Miloli'i is a very sacred place to my native heritage.”
The office of Career Success offers many tools and services for Stetson students to find internships. Students have interned at places like Google, NASA, Disney, NASCAR, Delta Air Lines and Lockheed Martin, opening doors to jobs after graduation.
Performance Opportunities
Justice Yates played tuba in high school and came to Stetson to become a music teacher.
Along the way, he discovered a talent for singing opera, and soon he will graduate with a Master of Music for Opera from the Yale School of Music.
In addition, he was selected — for a second time — as a Young Artist with the prestigious Merola Opera Program, one of 28 emerging artists chosen from nearly 1,300 international applicants.
His transformation in a few years’ time is a testament to his ability as a bass-baritone. It also highlights the quality of instruction and mentoring from top faculty in the School of Music, as well as the performance opportunities that build skills and confidence in young musicians.
Yates is grateful and still amazed at the pace of these opportunities. He won a national singing competition, competed in an opera competition in Austria, and won another competition at Stetson to perform at Carnegie Hall, among others.
“It was very intense,” he recalled of Stetson. “The experience you got early on was top-tier. The music program has always had a good, long-standing reputation within the music world, and it makes sense why."
Study Abroad
Jonah Helwig studied abroad three times as a student and now lives in Vienna, with aspirations to continue his career abroad.
Growing up in Orlando, he never thought he would live overseas. But after studying abroad in Poland — his first trip outside the United States — he returned with plans to travel again.
He went to Ukraine twice and, after graduation, moved to Vienna to earn a master’s degree. He currently is interning with the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“It’s been fascinating, learning about diplomacy and international cooperation and how things run behind the scenes,” said Helwig, a double major in Stetson’s Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (SPREES) and history.
Stetson offers hundreds of study-abroad opportunities, as well as scholarships to make them affordable. Helwig received scholarships for all three trips, which covered from half to all his expenses.
This content was paid for and created by Stetson University. The editorial staff of The Chronicle had no role in its preparation. Find out more about paid content.
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