March 31, 2021
Story and photo by Joe Vinduska
This is part four of a six-part series on the importance of academic integrity at Barton. The college will feature six student stories throughout the spring semester that help showcase the virtues of academic integrity. These virtues include trust, responsibility, honesty, courage, fairness, and respect.
Sophomore swimmer Kacper Mayerberg from Poland felt like a fish out of water when he came to Barton last year. Speaking limited English, he knew he had his work cut out for him assimilating to the United States and at the same time holding himself to his high personal standards in athletics and academics. Even with this daunting undertaking looming, he always kept his academic integrity intact and the virtue of fairness remained in the forefront as a guiding principle in his athletic and academic endeavors.
“I’ve been swimming for 14 years, since I was seven years old, and I’ve trained hard and sacrificed many things,” he said. “For people to take shortcuts, or use banned substances, it’s unfair and creates an unequal playing field. It ruins the competition and affects not only the accomplishments of those that cheat, but also the accomplishments of those who have not.”
Mayerberg’s attitude and virtues proved beneficial during his time at Barton. He has developed his personal, academic and athletic competence. He was part of the team that won the first runner-up title at the NJCAA National Swimming and Diving Championships in 2020.
“I was really concerned with coming to the United States,” he said. “My teammates and other students in my business classes helped me a lot and told me not to be afraid. They helped me with everything.”
Mayerberg plans to continue swimming at a four-year institution and major in finance or business management. His dream job is to become a Chief Financial Officer for a company.
For more information, contact Director of Innovation & Compliance Lee Miller at (620) 786-7453 or millerle@bartonccc.edu.