Rockefeller Center Student Profile: Julius Bedford '12

We meet and get to know a number of Dartmouth students over the course of the academic year.  Students involved with the Rockefeller Center don't fit a particular mold - they have a broad variety of interests and passions.  The following is a snapshot of one of those students.  

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Julius Bedford, Class of 2012

Julius gives a presentation during Rockefeller Leadership Fellows, Fall 2011.

"I decided to come to Dartmouth because of its great academic reputation, its study abroad programs, and its strong alumni network. I was also afforded the opportunity to visit Dartmouth for three days the summer before my senior year high school with a program called Destination Dartmouth. This program was my first look at the college; I was able to walk the campus, sit in on classes, and meet students. Everyone seemed so happy and proud to be at Dartmouth and I really saw myself being a part of this community.

While Rocky was not much of a factor in my decision to come to Dartmouth, I was impressed by the programs presented at Rocky’s Open House. I was particularly interested in the First-year Fellows and Civic Skills Training (CST) programs. They were clearly great opportunities to accrue work experience and learn about a policy area that interested me. My participation in the First-year Fellowship is easily one of my fondest Dartmouth experiences; I received professional knowledge in boot camp-style fashion at CST and I loved spending time with other students. During the summer, I worked for a regulatory attorney in the power and utilities industry and in keeping with First-year Fellowship policy, I had completed a summer-long project from which my supervisors continued to benefit after I had left.

During sophomore winter, I participated in the Management & Leadership Development Program (MLDP). Like CST I appreciated the focus on leadership and professionalism. Each week, the material from the session somehow related to my internship and on-campus leadership experiences; I believe MLDP made me a better fraternity president, a better Undergraduate Adviser, and a better employee. I later worked for MLDP as a Student Program Assistant, gaining a greater appreciation for all of the planning and effort that Rocky’s program coordinators put into creating these great experiences for students.

As a current Rockefeller Leadership Fellow I have participated in the fall retreat and speaker sessions. The list of speakers and presentations we are exposed to on a weekly basis and the intimate forum in which we may share our thoughts on leadership are very impressive. RLF has helped me develop my public speaking ability and my thoughts on leadership beyond Dartmouth. For example, I know that I will remember lessons on managing supervisors and decision-making in the professional world.

At Dartmouth, I exercised leadership through my extracurricular activities; what Rocky programs provided me most were incredible forums to reflect and better understand my leadership style. Dartmouth is full of opportunities for students to practice leadership, but too many of us have a passive attitude to the study of leadership and how it relates to us."

Julius Bedford is from Naperville, Illinois and attended Neuqua Valley High School. He is pursuing a major in economics modified with English and a minor in public policy. On campus, Julius is President of Alpha Phi Alpha, an Undergraduate Adviser, a Rockefeller Leadership Fellow, and a member of Palaeopitus. Julius spent his junior winter, as an intern in Exelon Corporation’s Federal Affairs Office and his junior summer as an investment banking intern at Barclays Capital. He plans to pursue a career in finance and will return to Barclays Capital as a full-time investment banking analyst after graduating from Dartmouth.