![]() ![]() I’m going to miss Los Angeles, but I’m also very excited for what comes next. “I really valued those experiences and valued all the support I received from people, because it gave me confidence moving forward.” “I did not come into USC being super confident in my public speaking ability - I was just a very nervous freshman,” Tsao said. Without these elements, he’s not sure if he would have branched out of his comfort zone and taken on leadership roles or given public presentations. Perhaps most importantly, Tsao credits those internships, organizations and his time at USC with building confidence in himself. “It really did reinforce my passion for public service and policy that addresses these intersectional, systemic issues.” Lessons learned and the road ahead for USC salutatorian “That was an incredible experience,” Tsao said. That internship ultimately led to another with then-U.S. That experience furthered his interest in social policy, which ultimately led him to an internship in his home state with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “But it’s just been such a transformative experience for me that really reshaped how I think about equity, how I think about access and how I think about social policy.” “I came into college with no interest whatsoever in educational equity work,” Tsao said. He also joined the governing board of the USC Norman Topping Student Aid Fund, the student-funded and -administered scholarship for first-generation and low-income students. “That’s a really cool organization that helped me first define what policy was, but then I also learned how to approach these problems from a really structural perspective,” Tsao said. He knew he wanted to get involved with organizations that focus on policy, so he immediately joined the Roosevelt Network at USC, a progressive think tank on campus. Most might have felt disconnected from a school and classmates that were so far away, but Tsao made it a point to become familiar with organizations on campus as early as possible. He only had one full semester on campus before he was forced to head back to Wisconsin for roughly the next year and half. Much like others in the Class of 2023, Tsao saw the COVID-19 pandemic throw a wrench into his traditional college experience. “USC makes it really easy for that to happen.” “One thing that I really valued about my USC experience is that I’ve gotten to take classes all over the place,” Tsao said. USC makes it really easy for that to happen. I’ve gotten to take classes all over the place. ![]() As a history and social sciences major with an emphasis in economics and a minor in marine biology, Tsao said that the interdisciplinary education at USC was the strongest selling point. Tsao said that if he was going to pack up and go to school nearly 2,000 miles away, he was going to study everything that interested him and take full advantage of what the university has to offer. “I decided to leave home for the first time and give this a go, and I’m just so glad I did.” USC salutatorian: Taking the risk and diving in But at the urging of a neighbor - a Trojan alum - Tsao decided to apply.įour years after leaving his family, friends and everything he had known behind, Tsao is graduating with a degree from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and as a salutatorian for the Class of 2023. Coming from Madison, Wis., Tsao said applying to a school in California was not the norm USC wasn’t even on his radar. As much as he has loved his time at USC, Liam Tsao admits that it wasn’t always his dream school.
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