Asset Management Operations Analyst, Goldman Sachs
All Hummel Scholarship winners at CU Boulder get the same message from the family that supports the award: Pay it forward.
Will Xu has taken that to heart.
The first-generation college student benefited from his high school’s FBLA club, so he established a Phi Beta Lambda chapter—the college equivalent of the business club—at Leeds. He took part in KeyBank’s summer Business Leadership Program as a pre-college student, then became a counselor in the program as an upperclassman. He got a great job at Goldman Sachs, so he started working as an employer relations ambassador for the school.
“The reason I got involved as an ambassador was to help other students through the process of going to career fairs and meet-and-greet events,” he said “Anything I can do to help companies engage students is my way of paying it forward.”
This summer, Xu will leave Boulder for Salt Lake City, where he’ll begin his career with Goldman Sachs in an asset management and operations role. He’s excited to begin, and said it will be a good step toward his long-term goal of creating more transparency in the finance industry.
“One day, I’d love to be a lead investor in underprivileged communities, helping direct capital toward startups and small businesses in communities that could use support,” he said.
He’s got a head start in that arena, too, having done a little strategic consulting for a CU student startup, Shivoo, a tool for group meetups and events. While he’s not as involved lately, “it was really cool to help it get off the ground,” he said.
Xu said he’s been able to pursue opportunities like Shivoo and Phi Beta Lambda, as well as the business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi, thanks to his scholarships, “which allowed me to be more involved on campus instead of working full time to pay for school.”
Leading Phi Beta Lambda is one of the experiences he’ll most treasure from his years at Leeds.
“I wanted to give back to the community that really sparked my interest in business in high school,” he said. “I wanted to create a driven community of students who will represent CU at statewide and national case competitions. Last summer, we had one of our members go to nationals and place in the top 10, which was extremely gratifying.”