Providing Student Support: A Passion for Leadership

Anyone who meets Noe Vital Jr. (BBA ’15) walks away feeling optimistic about the future.

His enthusiasm is contagious, and, as a recent graduate of the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he is poised to achieve his dream of starting his own company—a future he hadn’t imagined before graduating from college.

Vital chose to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison and earn a degree in political science, but soon realized politics wasn’t a good fit for him. He discovered the Wisconsin School of Business in a unique way—through a work-study job in Grainger Hall. The more he learned about the School, the more he understood that business suited his entrepreneurial goals. He applied and was accepted, choosing to major in management and human resources with an emphasis in entrepreneurship.

Vital’s leadership abilities, creative spirit, and hard work have enabled him to thrive at the School and beyond. During a summer internship at Firestone Complete Auto Care, he created a social media strategy that caught the attention of the digital marketing director who recruited him to do work on a social media project for Bridgestone Americas the following summer.

He “fell in love with digital marketing,” which led him to pursue a double major and develop his own idea for a social media marketing app, which he entered in the Burrill Business Plan Competition and hopes to launch.

Two scholarships in particular helped him to complete his fifth year and graduate with a double major—the Schauer Minority Scholarship in Business and the Ford Scholarship, which came in part from his work in the automotive industry.

“The scholarships were a huge help,” Vital says. “The support made college possible, and put me in a position to achieve my aspirations.”

Vital’s enthusiasm for the School is palpable, which is why he was an ideal choice to work as a BBA Ambassador, answering questions and meeting with prospective business students.

A student once asked him why he should enroll in the School. “I said, ‘you should come here because it’s going to be the best time of your life. I can’t tell you what that will mean to you, but I can tell you what it means to me.’ There were countless opportunities at the School. I took advantage of them all. I gained a lot, and had a lot of help.”