Trinity Soderstrom, who recently received her U.S. high school diploma while living
abroad in southern Italy, has been awarded the 2021 Wichita State University Clay
Barton Scholarship.
She will receive $12,500 a year for four years to attend Wichita State. The $50,000
Barton Scholarship is one of the largest business scholarships in Kansas.
Soderstrom’s mom, aunts and grandparents attended Wichita State, making it her family’s
legacy school. She has been involved in a variety of activities while growing up,
including cross country, volleyball, ballroom dancing and studying violin.
As a self-proclaimed “former military brat turned expatriate,” Soderstrom has lived
throughout Europe, mainly in Germany and Italy, and has become proficient in several
languages along the way. Soderstrom hopes to incorporate her interest in business
and her love for languages to pursue a job with an international corporation or work
in certain departments of the government.
While attending Wichita State, Trinity Soderstrom plans to study international business
and economics with additional studies in Russian, linguistics and international studies.
She will begin classes in fall 2021.
Barton Scholarship History
In 1991, the late Rent-A-Center co-founder W. Frank Barton, who provided the naming
endowment for Wichita State’s Barton School of Business, established a scholarship
in his son Clay’s name.
Clay Barton died from cancer in 1988 at the age of 20, cutting his promising life
short. While the Clay Barton Scholarship does not replace Clay’s presence, it is a
powerful legacy.
This legacy speaks to the richness of the Barton tradition at Wichita State. Barton
Scholars are expected to be the best of the best, excelling in academics, leadership
and service, fitting the pieces of their lives intricately into a structure that has
lasting value.
The candidates face a rigorous set of challenges in competing for the Clay Barton
Scholarship.
Wichita State University serves as the Kansas urban-based research university, enrolling
more than 15,000 students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries.
Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation
driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in
the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM),
Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of
applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one
of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing
over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
