Emily Chu

My background: I was from James Madison Memorial High School. I heard about the Arndt Family Scholarship from my high school counselor, and she advised me to apply for it. I applied for the scholarship and luckily I was one of the five students from my school to receive the scholarship.

My current status: I declared my major as retail through the School of Human Ecology. I will in my junior year, apply for the School of Business for a certificate in business and entrepreneurship. I am applying for the Student Retail Association to meet students that are retail majors like myself. I am currently taking three classes that fulfill the breadth requirements and three classes in consumer science. As I am taking more consumer science courses, I am more positive I want to go towards the retail field.

My future goals: During my 2nd semester of junior year I want to study abroad in Europe and apply for an internship in Europe. Then for the summer semester I hope to study abroad in South Korea and apply for an internship in South Korea as well. I want to graduate in two years and move out of Madison, Wisconsin. I hope I will be able to find a job in New York or California and work for a year or so and then go back to school to get my master’s degree.

My future: After undergrad, hopefully I can get into a large fashion corporate either based in New York City or out of the country in Europe or Asia. I would love to work for large corporates such as Michael Kors, Burberry, BCBG, or Tory Burch. I want to work in the corporate building as the behind the scene people that either manage the merchandise or buy products for the company. I will work my way up to a higher position, for example, a senior buyer or a manager.

How the Arndt Family Scholarship impacted my life? I am very thankful to the Arndt Family because if it were not for the Arndt Family I would be worrying about money and tuition fees instead of putting all my attention to my academics. In addition, with the scholarship it gave me extra motivation to do well in school and strive for what I want to do with my future.

How has the Arndt Family Scholarship improved the lives around me? The scholarship improved my family’s life. With the scholarship my parents do not need to worry about my tuition fees, which takes a load off their shoulders, and they can fully focus on my three younger sister’s college funds instead. The scholarship also improved how my relatives viewed me. I was very lazy when I was a kid until I entered high school. It is nice to have my relatives to be proud of me and notice the hard work I put in to get into UW-Madison and receive two scholarships.