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One student sums up the impact of his liberal arts education on his corporate work this way: “Benedictine has enabled me to draw from a wider breadth of knowledge that I would not have otherwise had.”
If you have been paying attention to business news for the past 10 years, then you know that liberal arts are in high demand.
Pietro Contolini has seen it firsthand. He is a current MBA student and 2024 finance graduate from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and he says that the college has helped him two ways: with hands-on learning in his discipline, and with its liberal arts core.
“Even as a finance major in a finance internship, I find myself drawing on my classes in other fields on a daily basis,” he said. “Being used to working outside your comfort zone and having to learn new subjects quickly are skills I learned through my liberal arts education, and have prepared me for my internship.”
The news is filled with evidence that what he is seeing is well-understood by leaders in business today.
- Earlier this year, Business Insider investigated “Why AI companies are hiring liberal arts grads,” and quoted an AI CEO and “serial entrepreneur” saying he hires liberal arts and humanities graduates for his AI startup because “creative thinkers are crucial.”
- Fortune magazine reported that an “IBM AI chief advises people who want a tech job in 2024 to learn the language and creative thinking skills you get with the liberal arts.”
- And USA Today published an opinion piece in June by Christine Schueckler warning against the belief that college wasn’t worth it, citing the liberal arts.
Benedictine College’s mission of community, faith and scholarship is designed to create well-rounded alums and Contolini, who hails from Denver, Colo., is a great example.
Community. As a Track & Field athlete, Contolini has competed in track throughout his time at Benedictine College, and continues to do so as a graduate student, learning teambuilding and camaraderie.
Faith: A graduate of Addenbrooke Classical Academy in Lakewood, Colo., his faith is a key part of his story. He spent all four years of his undergraduate career volunteering with the Atchison Hunger Coalition, Benedictine College’s apostolate to provide meals to families in need in Atchison.
Scholarship: Contolini made the most of the opportunities for hands-on learning at Benedictine College, participating in the college’s CAW Fund program to help invest part of the school’s endowment and seeking internships on his own and with the college’s help.
Most recently he interned with the Finance and Accounting teams at Savion, a renewable energy development company.
“As part of my internship I provide support to the accounting and finance strategy team,” he said. “My work involves internal controls and audits, corporate finance, strategic finance, and mergers and acquisitions.”
Contolini is truly cosmopolitan. He is bilingual and has worked in both the United States and Italy. His passions include the guitar.
“My time at Benedictine has really prepared me for my internship,” he said. “My liberal arts education has given me a strong knowledge of finance and accounting, but also has spanned my knowledge in many subjects and fields. This has been particularly important in my internship, which has required me to learn a working knowledge of not only accounting but the functioning of the renewable energy industry as a whole.”
Brooklynne Wozny contributed to this as part of her
Faces of Benedictine social media series.