John J. Peterson Scholarship Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Vedika Sanghai is a third year double majoring in Business Economics and Psychology with a minor in Entrepreneurship. She was born and brought up in Mumbai, India and moved to Los Angeles 3 years ago to pursue her education. She is interested in various fields such as Consulting, Marketing and Social work. Vedika aims to work in a company for a few years after graduation, after which she aspires to move back to India and build her own social enterprise business, which would focus on alleviating poverty in rural parts of India through the channel of education. She has absolutely loved her experience at UCLA and believes that it has helped her grow as an individual. She hopes to make the best of the opportunities she was given at UCLA and help others achieve their dreams.

Future Plans: This summer, Vedika is hoping to do a strategy/ marketing internship within the entertainment industry. She hopes to apply the synergy of her Economics and Psychology major to accurately understand consumer needs and communicate with them effectively. She also aims to work on her own startup, alongside with an internship. After gaining adequate experience, Vedika strives to secure a job with a consulting company in the fall, where she aspires to work for the next 3-4 years. After working with a consulting company, Vedika will pursue her MBA and move back to India after, trying to build and grow her own social enterprise company

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am honored and overwhelmed to receive the John J. Peterson scholarship. Having seen my whole company start their own businesses and companies, I have always known that I would want to be an entrepreneur. Through the various Economics and Entrepreneurship classes I have taken at UCLA, I have been equipped with the knowledge to successfully start and run my own business. I will be using the proceeds of this scholarship towards my education as well as applying it towards my startup to get access to the initial resources I needed but did not have access to. This scholarship will help me get a head start with my company and give me the opportunity to become a successful entrepreneur by allowing me to apply what I have learned in the classroom to the real world. I am going to spend my upcoming summer working on my startup and hope to launch it in the Fall of 2017.