Monica Bischoff may only be a sophomore, but the Forty Acres Scholar has already achieved enormous success at The University of Texas. Bischoff, who is majoring in business honors and history, recently learned that she has been selected to be a finance analyst intern with Microsoft, a Fortune 100 company.

This summer, Bischoff will only afford herself a couple of weeks of vacation. On May 28, she will make her way north to Redmond, Washington, 13 miles outside of Seattle. Though the Houston native has never lived outside of Texas, she’s thrilled for a new experience. “My mother’s side of the family lives in and around San Francisco,” she says, “and I love the West Coast.”

A member of the inaugural class of Forty Acres Scholars, Bischoff is the recipient of the John and Cynthia Adkins/Texas Exes Houston Chapter Forty Acres Scholarship. She attributes much of her success to the Forty Acres Scholars Program. “The program just surrounds you with super motivated and inspirational people,” says Bischoff. “It’s gotten me to do things and go places I normally wouldn’t do or go.”

In addition to being a Forty Acres Scholar, Bischoff has served as assistant financial vice president of Alpha Xi Delta, one of the nation’s longest-standing women’s fraternities. She is also a member of the Texas Undergraduate Investment Team, a student-led organization that focuses on giving undergraduates practical, real-life experience in finance.

That experience will serve her well at Microsoft, where a demanding finance analyst rotation will task her with handling anything from financial analysis and reporting to internal auditing and venture integration.

“What I really hope to gain from the internship is a way to apply hands-on what I’m learning in my classes,” Bischoff says. "I get a chance to see how a large company like this works."

Bischoff has big plans for the future, but that doesn’t mean she’s in a hurry to graduate. “UT has just been amazing,” she says. “I don’t think I could be getting a better education.”