When Michael Liu did the math, he didn’t like what he saw.
Liu had spent the first 16 years of his life in Beijing and Taiwan, dreaming of going to college in the United States. He added up the costs of college one night—and his dream suddenly seemed impossible. Discouraged, he said a prayer. “I think the answer God told me was that everything would be okay,” he says. “But honestly, in that moment, my faith wasn’t quite there yet.”
Still, Liu decided he didn’t want to let go of his dream without giving it his best shot. So, while he was still finishing high school, he worked a 9-to-5 job at a dental clinic. He would get up at six in the morning to do his online high school classes through Brigham Young University, go to work, and then tutor students in English and work construction on the side to make extra money.
“Every job, every early morning and late night—it all compounded into something bigger than I imagined. That’s what got me here,” Liu says, now a student at the BYU Marriott School of Business. “That season of my life taught me the power of prayer, faith, and the quiet progress that comes from showing up every single day.”
The opportunities for growth didn’t stop when Liu made it to Provo. Although he hadn’t initially planned on serving a mission, he felt inspired to prepare for one after receiving his patriarchal blessing during his freshman year. At the end of that year, Liu was called to serve the Mandarin-speaking community in the Canada Calgary Mission.
When he returned to BYU, Liu decided to study finance, interested in the people-focused nature of consulting—but being in a new country and without many connections, he says he struggled to find internships.
Liu turned to his previous experiences to stay positive. Having grown up playing basketball, he started playing during open gym hours on campus, where he found connections with others and a better understanding of US culture. As Liu worked on building a network, he also leaned on his mission experience to overcome setbacks, he explains. “My experiences taught me to accept rejection with an open heart and lean on my faith during difficult times,” he says. “There are a lot of ‘nos’ in the process of networking, but you only need one ‘yes,’ and that leads to something great.”
The “yeses” came for Liu in the form of internships with Marriott International and Province Firm, and Liu is now preparing for a summer internship with Boston Consulting Group. Looking forward, he hopes to work full-time for a consulting firm, but his ultimate goal is to start a charitable organization to help connect international students with industry leaders, which Liu hopes will lead to more than just jobs for those students.
“When underprivileged students see what’s possible at the top of their industry, they become brave enough to dream. I believe that as humans we’re meant to dream, pursue, and then reach back to lift others,” he says. “That turns into a positive cycle where there’s just more good in the world.”
For now, the organization Liu hopes to start is still in the works. But when challenges come, Liu says he looks back to that night as a teenager praying in his bedroom about how to afford college. “I’ve learned that when I pray for opportunities, the Lord often responds with challenges instead,” he says. “But those challenges are the answer—they shape you into someone capable of capturing the opportunity when it finally arrives.”
