Contact:
Mike Ferlazzo
570-577-3212
570-238-6266 (c)
mike.ferlazzo@bucknell.edu
LEWISBURG, Pa. (February 5, 2026) – On many nights, you’ll find Sophia Bardunias ’28 tucked into a quiet corner of Holmes Hall, laptop open as a deadline looms.
Sometimes she’s finishing a problem set or writing a short reflection on that week’s lessons. Other nights, its something bigger – like a recent 130-page paper that reads less like a class assignment and more like something produced for real clients by a professional consulting firm.
That’s by design.
In Bucknell’s Management 101 course, “we, as a class, are called a company,” Bardunias says. Students partner with a local nonprofit – this year, it’s DIG Furniture Bank in a neighboring town – to experience what real consulting teams do: organize, problem-solve and deliver on a plan.
It’s the kind of hands-on opportunity that sets Bucknell apart and makes for impressive anecdotes during job interviews.
As vice president of communications for her class’s “company,” Bardunias was responsible for turning 30 moving pieces into a cohesive final product.
“I had to pull everything together and make sure it was done on time,” she says.
It’s the kind of responsibility that can feel big for a sophomore, but Bardunias talks about it like it’s normal. That’s because, for her, it is.
“This comes with being a student-athlete, says Bardunias, a Patriot League First Team All-League Member who competes on Bucknell’s golf team. “Its about being timely, organized and then communicating with people when something isn’t getting done,” she says.
That balance – between details and people – is what drew her to business analytics in the Freeman College of Management. She’s always known she wanted something business-related, and she likes the way data can tell a story if you know how to read it. Her ultimate goal is a finance career in New York City that combines both passions.
During a campus visit, a conversation helped her put a name to that instinct. She met with a faculty member in the Freeman College of Management who told her that business analytics aligned with what she was looking for.
Bucknell wasn’t always on her radar. Coming from San Ramon, Calif., shed never heard of the University. But when she started searching for schools that combined strong academics with Division I athletics, Bucknell kept popping up.
“I saw that it was really good academically,” she says. She emailed the golf coach, Laura Tyler-Cook, and heard back the next day. One conversation confirmed what shed been sensing. “It was a good match,” Bardunias says.
A typical day now shows why that instinct was right. Bardunias starts with 7 a.m. lifts, often followed by coffee with teammates, then classes from 8:30 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. In the breaks, she works with Freeman’s experiential learning team on alumni connections and professional development. After practice, it’s dinner, homework and, on some nights, Fellowship of Christian Athletes at 8 p.m.
On top of that, she’s studying for the Securities Industry Essentials exam – a first step toward a career in finance.
“In high school, friends would stay up until 3 a.m. finishing homework, and I couldn’t understand it, she says. “I’m going to practice for three hours, and then I’m in bed by 11.”
That discipline shows up on the golf course, too. At last year’s Patriot League Championship, Bardunias needed a par on the final hole to finish in the top group. She missed the fairway on her drive before recovering and leaving herself a 30-foot putt for par – roughly the length of a city bus.
She sank it.
“It was the only putt that had really gone in all day,” she says.
What she remembers most is what came next: dead silence. Her teammates, gathered around the green, couldn’t see the cup from where they stood. They didn’t know if she’d made it or missed.
“I’m a pretty stoic person on the course,” she says. “The cheering didn’t start until I walked up and picked up the ball.”
When the pressure builds, Bardunias leans on her faith. She prays on the course and reminds herself there’s a bigger purpose.
“Golf isn’t the end-all, be-all,” she says. “If this round goes bad, I’m probably not going to remember it in two years.”
That perspective helps her see Bucknell for what it is: a place to stack opportunities rather than choose between them. A place where a student from California can chase a New York City career while competing at the Division I level and still find time for coffee runs with teammates after early morning lifts. And a place where, unlike the individual nature of competitive golf, shes found something different.
“Your teammates and your classmates are there to support you,” she says. “They’re not there to compete with you. They’re there to help you.”
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