2007 The Howard J. and Mitzi W. Green Scholarship Recipient

Biography: A fourth-year Business Economics major and Accounting minor, Liwen Tsai was born in Southern California, but spent four years of her childhood in Taiwan, where she became fluent and literate in Mandarin Chinese. Her previous travel experiences to different parts of Asia also helped to develop her career interests in the global economy to engage herself in both business and cultural exchanges with Pacific-rim countries. As a result, she also minors in Chinese as an extension of her interests in Asian languages and cultures. In 2005, she earned a scholarship to study at the Beijing Language and Culture University in China, where she expanded her horizons as she interacted with students from all over the world. Liwen’s first internship began at the Monterey Park Economic Development Center, where she worked alongside project managers of various developing ventures and participated in economic redevelopment projects of older commercial areas in the city. In 2006, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from East Los Angeles College before transferring as a UCLA Alumni Scholar. Since then she has been working at the UCLA East Asian Library. Currently she is also a tax intern at 20th Century Fox, where she is able to combine her interests in the media and entertainment industry with her knowledge in business and accounting. In addition, she has interned for two years with the Long Beach-Qingdao Sister City Association, an organization which promotes exchanges and cooperation between Long Beach and Qingdao (a port city on the northeastern Chinese coast). She has been managing the Association’s website and has gained valuable learning experiences about international relations and the import-export business community in Southern California.

Future Plans: After graduation, Liwen’s immediate goal is to work for a management consulting, investment banking or public accounting firm before pursuing an MBA. In the future, she plans to explore different fields and industries, and hopes to one day have the opportunity to work for either an international economic development agency or a global media/entertainment firm.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am extremely grateful to receive the Howard J. and Mitzi W. Green Scholarship. As a result of this scholarship, I will have less pressure to finance my education, therefore allowing me more time to focus on my academic and professional endeavors. This award serves not only as a source of financial support but also as a confirmation of my academic pursuits. Many thanks to both the Greens and to the UCLA Department of Economics.