Livia Xie

Growing up in China, I received a completely different education. I’ve been interacting with different people half of my life. When I moved here, everything was new to me. I had to start all over to learn new things and how to communicate with people. It was a very difficult time for me, and I struggled a lot. During the nine years that I’ve lived in this country, I started to realize the bright future that it can provide me. I appreciate my parents for giving me this opportunity to live in such a wonderful country and experience the culture here. They provided me the first step in the path leading to my success, and now it’s up to me to finish it.

I am currently accepted at UW-Madison and in the School of Letters and Science. My plan is to apply for the School of Business during the spring semester of freshman year and major in the business field.

Whether is entrepreneur or international business, they both give me a career that is full of excitements. I enjoy work that constantly challenges me and are never the same. I also think that business requires a good communication skill, and having that skill would help me both socially and academically. After getting a Bachelor's degree, I plan to continue to pursue an education to earn the MBA degree. In the meantime, if I have more free time, I might try to obtain a degree in a language or music-related major. I try to be a well-rounded person and at least know a little bit of everything, so I will be trying new classes in college while still sticking to the main business path. Aside from taking classes, I will also apply for internships to gain more experience as well as studying abroad to experience different cultures. Required by the international business major, I believe studying abroad allows me to expand my horizon, and it gives me a chance to use the knowledge I learned in real life.

My vision for the future is either opening a business of my own or being in a leadership role in a company. I want to work in a big city on the east or west coast. Working in France or somewhere in Asia is also a possibility for me since I also plan to learn multiple languages. Leaving Wisconsin gives me better job opportunities, but I will also come back and visit the first home I had in this country.

Receiving the Arndt Family Scholarship was a dream come true for me. I’ve never expected this to happen, and I am very grateful to be one of the recipients of this scholarship. It not only relieved me but also my family from the burden of the heavy college tuition. They don’t have to worry about how I have to pay for college. Now I can focus more on classes instead of busy looking for multiple jobs to pay for my education. The scholarship motivates me to be a better student so the money won’t go to waste. I want the scholarship to help me continue to pursuit my dreams and grateful that it gave me a great headstart.