Courtesy of Michael Chan
As a high school senior, I remember sitting at the dinner table during Lunar New Year, surrounded by my friends and family. I felt deeply disconnected from the people around me: everywhere I turned, successful role models seemed to travel established routes in STEM disciplines — science, technology, engineering or math. My brother, an undergraduate computer science major, was like an ingot refined through years of family experience and support. I, on the other hand, was like a book full of blank pages, still waiting to be filled with ink. I knew that my heritage as a second-generation Chinese immigrant was an integral part of my life, but that didn’t mean I had to fit into the traditionally STEM-oriented mold. As a political science and pre-business major at Emory University, I dared to buck the trend.
Taking risks is a theme of my journey at Emory. I’ve run in three separate Student Government Association (SGA) elections, started a freelance photography gig and founded a Nicki Minaj fan account on Instagram, EmoryBarbz. My boldest endeavors have led me to some of my greatest achievements and most meaningful lessons learned.
Stepping foot on Emory’s Oxford College campus as a freshman during the COVID-19 pandemic, I challenged myself to get involved. I joined the Asian Culture Club and Oxford SGA and worked as a tour guide at the Student Admissions Association. As it turned out, making friends during a time when people weren’t allowed in each other’s dorms and had to wear masks was difficult. Showcasing a “tight-knit campus community” to prospective students was even harder — I didn’t know enough people and places to love it myself. I often thought about transferring to my local state schools to start over.
My sophomore year was my breakthrough: when over 200 attendees came to the first large-scale event I collaborated on, the Asian Culture Carnival, I finally felt like I was making a positive impact on campus. After matriculating to Goizueta Business School as a junior, I continued to stay involved with student organizations. I joined Goizueta Pride and the Goizueta Career Management Center to promote professional pathways for diverse students and identities. I ran for president of the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Council, a position that allowed me to cultivate stronger relationships between BBA students and grow as a collaborator and leader. Despite the initial challenges and feelings of isolation, these experiences reaffirmed the positive impact of taking risks and sticking with my involvements.
My journey has not been without its failures. Michael Jordan once reflected on his lifetime basketball achievements, saying, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot — and missed.” Like him, I’ve navigated many letdowns at Emory: I lost in the first round of my sophomore year Oxford SGA vice presidential election by one vote, I fell embarrassingly short with my early attempts at digital single-lens reflex photography and I flopped in more than a couple of internship interviews. Yet, these setbacks were crucial. They taught me that to make an impact, I needed to be willing and able to fail, too. Each missed opportunity was a deeply personal lesson in adaptation and resilience that bolstered my next endeavors.
Goizueta Business School was a highlight of my Emory experience. Through Assistant Professor in the Practice of Marketing Marina Cooley’s content marketing class, I’ve gained a profound understanding of how to tell the right stories to engage audiences and the communities I care about. In Associate Professor of Organization and Management Wesley Longhofer’s business and society course, I’ve learned to think critically about how businesses impact all of their stakeholders and govern responsibly. Director of Student Life and Leadership Paula Zwillich was instrumental in guiding my leadership journey — she always lent a fresh perspective into how to best support Oxford matriculants, transfers and diverse student groups through the BBA Council. These experiences provided unique insights that have shaped my academic and professional outlook.
I hope Emory students will leverage the lessons I’ve learned: take genuine risks, do something interesting even if people might make a Fizz post about it and seek experiences that initially feel cringe-worthy. It was my most challenging experiences that have made the biggest difference in my personal life and my ability to impact the Emory community at large. I’ll take those lessons with me for the rest of my life. The blank pages in my book are mine to write, and mine alone to fulfill.
Michael Chan (22Ox, 24B) is from Ellicott City, Md., and majored in strategic management and marketing. During his time at Emory University, he served as the president of the Bachelor of Business Administration Council, president of Goizueta Pride and co-president of the Emory Asian Culture Club. After graduation, Chan plans to join Vanguard as a marketing analyst.
