Emmalene Madsen

After taking a Mandarin course her freshman year of high school, Emmalene was hooked. At Western, her passion for the language and culture only deepened. She had been studying the language for about four years before participating in a summer internship program in Beijing in 2018. Her desire to learn from another culture coupled with her great respect and interest in humanity led her to success in the form of a Freeman Asia Award, where Emmalene further sharpened her language skills and realized just how different China was compared to how the media portrayed it, helping her realize the need for international education. She then earned the title ‘outstanding graduate’ and planned to pursue a career in Asia in International education. Emmalene also participated in an intensive Chinese Language Program funded by a Critical Language Scholarship, though it was virtual due to the pandemic.