Becky Yang

My name is Becky Yang. I am a first generation college student in my family. My parents came to the U.S. after the Vietnam War as refugees. Due to taking care of a family and their lack of education back in their homeland, they did not attain an education here in the U.S.; instead they worked to help support their children. My parents stressed the importance of having an education because of their experiences and the hardships that came with the manufacturing jobs they had attained. My parents became and are my motivation and the reason for continuing my education.

Ever since I was little, I have always wanted to become a teacher and that is what I did. I recently graduated (May 16th, 2015!) with a major in Early Childhood Education, teaching grades birth to third, and certified with an English as a Second Language degree. I will be teaching summer school here in Madison and still hoping to hear about teaching in the fall.

I am excited about where I am today and I truly have to thank the Arndt Scholarship for this. It has impacted my life greatly. When I got accepted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the first thing I was worried about was how I was going to pay for my education. My parents were not able to save up for college for their children so this was something I was concerned about. With this scholarship, I have been able to spend my first year in a dorm and get that great experience, save up extra money to study abroad in China over the summer, and then in my junior year of school when I had my son, I didn’t have to stress out about paying for my education. The past four years have been stressful, tiring, exhausting, but with the emotional support of my parents and the financial support from the Arndt scholarship, it has been the most amazing and life-changing experience of my life that I will never forget.