Graduation at Madison College: Finding the Whole Collegiate Experience
While she grew up in Minnesota, Diana Vue has found her dream collegiate life at Madison College.
by Jonathan Gramling
While searching for a good college education, Diana Vue, who graduated from Madison College in May, found what she also needed, a sense of community.
Vue was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, but when her parents divorced when she was three-months-old, she moved to Coon Rapids, Minnesota — a part of the Minneapolis metropolitan area — with her mother, leaving her father and siblings behind. When it came time to go to college, Vue started out at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Minnesota.
“I really liked Asoka-Ramsey, but there just wasn’t student life,” Vue said. “It was just studies. It was just being a student and passing your classes. It was just another place to get your degree. I wanted more from my college career. I wanted to be more than a number.”
Vue had her sights on UW-Madison and so she felt the best way to get there was through Madison College.
“I wanted to go to UW-Madison for human development and family studies,” Vue said. “I did the economic and pre-business transfer program. I chose it because I wanted to do the transfer agreement contract with UW-Madison because Madison College has a lot of agreement contracts with the UW-Madison schools. And my main goal was to go to UW-Madison. So I chose that degree. I did economics just because I had previous history with it. I really like economics, so it was just the route that I was going through.”
Vue had done her homework.
“The major I want to pursue is human development and family studies,” Vue said. “UW-Madison is one of the few schools that offers human resources and also working with families. My other route was human resources. But I realized in high school, I worked at a daycare and I really liked it. The reason why I didn’t go full on daycare and family studies and child development is because the pay rate wasn’t what I was looking for. So I went towards human resources. But when I realized that UW-Madison offered majors that currently include both, I was really intrigued by that. That’s the reason why I chose that school.”
But once Vue settled in at Madison College in June 2025, she realized it offered what she also desired, real student life.
“Madison College felt like it was home,” Vue exclaimed. “It wasn’t just another part of my journey. It was the journey. I didn’t know if Madison College offered student life. I knew what I was looking for. But I didn’t know that there were places that could fulfill my dreams. I wanted to make meaningful connections. I wanted to be around my peers. I wanted to hear about other people. My life at Madison College has been really transformative, not even just me in the roles I was in, but also attending other clubs and seeing other student leaders. It was just amazing. In my other college, I didn’t realize that Madison College offered that. I assume that UW-Madison offers that because they have so many clubs, so many sororities, so many things. Getting to UW-Madison meant going through Madison College. But then I realized that I could do everything that I always wanted to do at Madison College.”
Vue thrived in the work and activities she engaged in outside of the classroom.
“My first semester, I was a teacher’s assistant at the Early Learning Campus at Truax,” Vue said. “It was really fun. I worked with the kids. And I gained a lot. I worked with a teacher Sarah who was amazing. She inspires me. If I ever go into higher education, she is the type of teacher I want to be. First semester, I was also in RISE, Retention Initiatives and Student Engagement. I was one of the board members and we held a banquet. It was really fun. We saw all of our peers who came to eat a meal and hang out. Another experience at Madison College was joining PAC, which is Programs and Activities Council. This is an organization at Madison College where you can create events for students. It was really fun. I had a great advisor. Those were my three great experiences.”
Since Vue went to high school in Minnesota and her Wisconsin family lives in Sheboygan, there was the risk that Vue would become isolated having to start all over again creating a support network.
“That was the number one thing that my family was scared of,” Vue recalled. “We’re first-generation. I have three siblings who did graduate and they were saying that it is really tough to move to another state where you don’t know anyone. They were really scared that I would fall into depression or isolation. But I moved with something in mind. I moved with the idea that I wanted to make connections. And I wouldn’t have made the connections if I didn’t reach out. And also I wouldn’t have made the connection if the other person wasn’t willing to reach out too. At Madison College, everyone is looking for connections. And it really is making that step. And then when you do, you have the other person.”
And in the bleakest of times, it was those connections that helped her keep her eye on the prize.
“I think the RISE faculty members have been really helpful,” Vue said. “I had a success coach who helped me do a time management worksheet where I would be able to have time for studying instead of And then I had my mentor who helped me with encouragement. Sometimes I get in trouble and start thinking, ‘Was the move really worth it.’ But she always encouraged me. The fact that I moved is already made. She would email me and called me about events or scholarships. I think everyone at Madison College from the faculty members to the students are just amazing. It’s not just you go to college to get good grades and you move on. You truly make a family there.”
There is a lot of diversity at Madison College in terms of race, gender and age among other factors. This allowed Vue to fit right in.
“I wouldn’t say that I made life-long friends,” Vue said. “But I made memories with the people whom I met at Madison College whom I will always think about. You hear the stories, ‘Oh, I met my friend in college.’ But I just have so many people to be grateful for, not only my advisors, but also my PAC members, my president, my vice-president, my Truax coordinator. I’m so inspired by them. I’m also in awe of the Asian American Club president. I’m 24-years-old. At Madison College, I don’t feel older. We’re just a group of people who are eager to connect. And when you do connect, nothing else matters.”
She also enjoyed the learning environment at Madison College.
“I realized that I really love learning and I’m just really happy to be in an environment where learning is encouraged,” Vue said. “I took an Intro to Literature class this semester. Sometimes I feel like a nerd and feel kinda lame for liking school. But I actually feel fortunate to be in a classroom where all of my peers love learning. And when we read stories out loud, they would read it in that character’s voice. And you don’t feel stupid for trying something new. I really loved that literature class because it shows that not only am I excited to learn, but everyone else is excited too. You can see that. Everyone is participating in class.”
On May 15th when it came to commencement at the Alliant Energy Center, Vue didn’t know what to expect.
“I had anxiety not knowing who I would shake hands with because I didn’t know who was going to be up there,” Vue said. “But I have seen Dr. Berne who is our president. She has been a guest speaker at a lot of events that we do at Madison College. It was really fun to take a picture with her. And then Dr. Tim Casper was the one who gave us our diploma. Walking across the stage felt really good. Having my family there, having people whom I knew there was great. Even though I only spent a year there, I knew a few students who actually walked across the stage. I was able to cheer them on.”
While Vue will be studying human development and family studies at UW-Madison, she isn’t sure what she will major in. Discovering what she wants to do with her life is all part of the journey. And exciting times are ahead.