Michael Wynn | Social Community Manager
Just as everyone’s definition of success is different, so too is their path to achieving it. You could say that Emily Tarko, a first-year business administration major from Windsor Locks, CT, has already achieved much success at a relatively young age. Tarko, one of the two 2020 recipients of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige Scholarship, finished her first semester with an admirable 4.00 GPA despite the challenges of being completely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I like all the courses I took, but of course the biggest challenge was being all remote and all online is really difficult,” Tarko said. “It’s a very different experience than I was expecting.”
Yes, the path to success often includes overcoming challenges, many of which are out of our control. Like most college freshmen, she did not envision her first semester coinciding with a global health crisis; however, she did not allow this challenge to deter her from her goals. Tarko remained focused, which is a skill that has served her well in the past.
“I like to work hard; I’m just a very hard worker,” she shared. Her strategy is simple and it’s one she absorbed by watching her father.
“My inspiration would definitely be my father because he actually owns a business,” Tarko beamed. “I see how hard he works and how invested he is in the work that he does. So that’s really inspiring to me.”
Hoping to follow in her father’s footsteps and one day build her own business, Tarko found herself taking a path that would allow her to meet her goals while being supported by a caring community of faculty and coaches along the way.
“I applied… because I’m really into business… and when I visited Post, the softball coach was telling me about the family atmosphere,” she said. “[Post] was going to be good for my education, I was going to get into a good business program and also play softball.”
While she’s excited about the many opportunities that await her when in-person learning resumes, that hasn’t stopped her from continuing to explore ways to continue to grow.
“I did join the Honors Program [this semester],” Tarko shared. “I like to challenge myself academically and I thought that would be a good way to give me a little bit of a push. It allowed me to challenge myself more and get deeper into my learning.”
When she finally arrives on our quaint campus in Waterbury, Tarko is excited to have the full college experience. She is excited to make new friends, meet her professors in-person, and play softball as an Eagle. But she is not losing sight of the impact that the Malcolm Baldrige Scholarship has on her experience.
“I’m just very thankful and grateful [to have received the scholarship],” Tarko said. “It just goes to show how much the hard work I’ve put in is paying off. It’s pushing me to be the best that I can be in the classroom, to put my best effort in and to challenge myself.”
The Malcolm Baldrige Scholarship is a four-year, full-tuition scholarship for on-campus students enrolled in The Malcolm Baldrige School of Business at Post University. Applications for the 2021 scholarship are still being accepted and the deadline is February 1, 2021. Incoming students interested in the scholarship can apply here: 2021 Malcolm Baldrige Scholarship & Application.