In Their Own Words: Rose duPont ’26 on Wells Fargo and the Power of In-Person Connections

In Their Own Words is a series in which we introduce you to the Gaels you need to meet—students, alums, faculty, and staff—and let them tell their stories, in their own words.

Meet Rose duPont ’26: a former President of Gael Women in Business who recently graduated with a degree in Finance and Music. In 2025, duPont was selected for Wells Fargo’s competitive Commercial Banking Summer Internship, a 10-week program that provides undergraduates with an extensive overview of commercial banking. Now she’s stepping into a full-time role as a commercial banking analyst at Wells Fargo’s San Francisco office.  

Choosing Saint Mary’s

Growing up, I didn’t necessarily think too much about college. My dad got his degree, but I never felt any pressure from his parents. It wasn’t until I started attending Carondelet High School—an all-girls Catholic high school in Concord, California—that I started seriously considering it. 

I’m a California girl at heart, so I mostly applied to in-state schools. Going to Carondelet, I was already familiar with SMC. Plenty of my friends had gone or were going there, and it’s not too far from my parents’ house in Brentwood. I knew SMC would give me the liberal arts education I wanted in a completely new environment, without me having to move to the East Coast. Plus, I was fortunate to receive several scholarships from SMC, including one from the Music Department, which really solidified my decision. Saint Mary’s just felt like the next natural step. 

Businesswomen supporting businesswomen

I really credit the club Gael Women in Business, or GWB, with helping me find my way. Coming in as a first-year, I didn’t know what I wanted for my career. With my Music scholarship, I knew I would study music in some capacity. And I was generally interested in business but didn’t have any specific areas of interest. As an 18-year-old, I found that uncertainty pretty intimidating.

Fortunately, I got heavily involved in GWB, where I met Finance majors who really enjoyed their classes. I looked up to those women, so I took an introductory course with Tee Lim, a finance professor. Dr. Lim worked for years at a global investment management firm in the US and Japan. Hearing insights about his career and everything under the finance umbrella got me excited about it as a major. I settled on a split major between Finance and Music, which was a perfect balance. 

Over the next few years, I stayed connected with GWB and was on the executive team for three years, including as club president during my fourth year. Honestly, my time with GWB taught me what a supportive, professional community can look like. A lot of times in business, there’s an assumption that you need to be competitive, that you’re not necessarily here to make friends. But GWB modeled what an empowering and collaborative business environment can be. I’ll definitely carry that into all my future workspaces. 

Expanding her horizons

Another big reason I chose Saint Mary’s was the Study Abroad program. Going into college, I knew studying abroad was important to me. What’s amazing at SMC is how accessible that is. For the program I attended in Aix-en-Provence in southern France, tuition and housing costs were the same as if I had spent that semester on campus. The only out-of-pocket expenses were traveling there and back—and souvenirs, of course. And all of my Finance and French courses transferred seamlessly.

Studying abroad helped me discover who I am as an independent adult. It was a stellar way for me to place myself outside of my comfort zone—and practice my French skills, which I’d been working on since high school. I even took a class in Business French.

“In business, there’s an assumption that you need to be competitive... But the Gael Women in Business Club modeled what an empowering and collaborative business environment can be. I’ll definitely carry that into all my future workspaces.”

Hopping on the Wells Fargo wagon 

In the fall of 2024, I attended a networking event put on by the SMC Career Center. As I went around to the various tables, I met a recruiter from Wells Fargo. She was really friendly, and we hit it off right away. She told me about a commercial banking analyst summer internship they were offering and, based on our conversation, essentially forwarded me to the second step of the interview process. I made it through various rounds, and in the spring, I found out I was selected. 

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Interning at Wells Fargo was a great experience. On the last day of the internship, they reveal whether you’ll be offered a future job there. Going into my one-on-one meeting with my development manager, I was nervous. But then he told me, “Congratulations! We’d love to have you come work at Wells Fargo after graduation.” Actually, everyone from my cohort got accepted for the job, which was exciting. 

The road ahead—and advice to graduating Gaels

In August, I start my new job as a Commercial Banking Analyst for Wells Fargo. I’ll be part of a rotational program with a group of recent college graduates. We’ll each spend six months in four different positions. As we work with the different teams throughout the year, our supervisors will gain a better sense of our skill sets. And we’ll also get a better idea of what we want to do in the future. It feels like a continuation of my education, which is exciting. 

To students hoping to land a job after college, I would definitely encourage you to leverage your network. A lot of people can be very humble when they’re applying to jobs. Own your skill set. Go to the networking events the Career Center puts on. Even if you don’t necessarily want to work at all of these companies, it’s always good to make connections.  

I want to shout out to the Career Center for having a Wells Fargo recruiter on campus that day. The reality is that, even though online job applications are the norm, they’re not a very personalized approach. If I learned anything at SMC, it’s the importance of connecting in person. It changed everything for me.

Hayden Royster is the Associate Editor in the Office of Marketing and Communications at Saint Mary’s College. Write him.