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Elory Singer (McIntire ’26) Blazed a Trail from California to UVA

Singer’s journey thus far highlights the power of adapting to new opportunities and building a new home away from home. As she begins the next chapter of her college experience at McIntire, she is certain to leverage her confidence, resilience, and desire to explore new avenues in her academic and extracurricular activities.

Elory Singer

The breathtaking views of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains are a striking contrast to the idyllic coastal town of Newport Beach, CA, where Elory Singer grew up surrounded by beach life. But her adjustment to four distinct seasons and a new life on the East Coast at the University of Virginia went fairly seamlessly.

“Of course, I got a little homesick my first semester, like nearly everyone does. But I was really lucky and clicked with my roommate right away. I love California, but it was time for me to try something new,” Singer explains.

Empowered by the new friendships she developed with her hallmates, Singer jumped right into life at UVA, with ambitious plans to apply to the McIntire School of Commerce, an accomplishment she was notified of this past spring semester, when the Comm School released its list of newly admitted third-years for the 2024-2025 academic year.

“I’ve known that I wanted to pursue business since middle school,” she says. “But at the time, UVA was not a popular choice for students graduating from my high school. My neighbor mentioned to me one day that he could see me at UVA, so I thought, ‘I’ve already applied to so many schools, what’s one more essay?’”

After investigating further, Singer realized that UVA met all of her criteria for her college experience: It was out of state, prides itself on its academic rigor, and has an active sports community and Greek life. “Then I visited for Days on the Lawn, met my roommate, who is still my roommate today, and I just loved it,” she says.

Finding Confidence in the Outdoors

Singer’s confidence to move 3,000 miles away from her family and friends is rooted in her upbringing. Her childhood was shaped by multiple family moves, five in total, which built her resilience. Yet because all of the relocating happened within a five-mile radius of where her family still lives today, it gave her comfort in what was familiar.

As she grew older, Singer recalls how she and her friends were eventually allowed to ride their bikes to the beach on their own. “Arguably, especially during the summer, I spent more time at the beach than I did in my own house,” she recalls.

But it was her participation in California’s Junior Lifeguards Program that helped her break out socially of what she describes as a somewhat timid shell.

“You have to try out for the program, which always caused a little bit of anxiety, but it was so fun,” she says. “The goal of the program, especially in your first few years, is to establish basic beach and water safety. It transformed my confidence in the water and taught me how to look out for others.”

Singer remembers how she and her friends would ride their bikes to the ferry that would take them to the beach for training sessions. The experience really fostered her sense of independence, which she now applies to other aspects of her life.

“One of the coolest traditions we had was to jump off the Newport Pier, which is illegal to do otherwise,” she says. “I liked to stay in my comfort zone, and I was scared of heights. So as a four-and-a-half-foot-tall person looking at a 30-foot drop, it’s pretty scary. But I did it!”

A Passion for Environmental Business

Singer’s interests in math, business, and sustainability intersected with what she learned during her first two years on Grounds. “I’m someone who likes logic, law, and numbers,” she says. “I feel like business is a great field for me because it allows me to be involved in problem solving but also be able to interact with people.”

Now that she’s officially a Comm student, she plans to concentrate in Finance while also earning a minor in Statistics. She is currently a Learning Assistant for Calculus, saying, “I hold review sessions and answer questions for students and act as a friendly face inside and outside of the classroom.”

In the future, Singer says she hopes to pursue a career in environmental asset management, a niche area of finance that bridges the worlds of business and sustainability. It’s a field that she discovered during her senior year of high school as she worked on a nine-month research project about California’s Cap-and-Trade Program.

“The California state government auctions off carbon credits every year to companies that can use the credits for their own businesses, or if it’s a business that has net zero emissions, it can buy and sell credits to other companies that need them,” she explains. “I researched alongside an executive VP at Pacific Investment Management Company, or PIMCO, a global investment company that’s headquartered in my hometown. That’s what inspired me to consider a career in environmental asset management.”

Outside of her academic pursuits, Singer ties her business and sustainability interests together through several clubs on Grounds, including business impact and sustainability club Net Impact, as well as the UVA chapter of Thirst Project, which raises awareness about the global water crisis and fundraises for building wells in Africa, providing local populations access to clean water.

Finding Her Niche

Though Singer finds herself busy most days between her classes, homework, and extracurricular activities, her strong network of friends remains an important part of her UVA experience. “My roommates and I are super close. I like to spend a lot of time with them, talking about our days,” she says.

She’s also on the executive board of her sorority, Delta Zeta, and actively seeks out opportunities to enhance the Greek life experience on Grounds for her new sisters. “I came to UVA not knowing a lot of people, so it was helpful for me to rush a sorority and instantly have 60 new people I can be friends with,” Singer explains.

With such an active schedule, Singer admits that it’s been difficult to maintain her favorite hobbies from home: reading for fun and playing recreational beach volleyball. “I never played competitively,” she says. “But I’m trying to get back into playing intramurally because it reminds me of home and I love it. It’s a fun way to see my friends outside of school and take a break from everything.”

Singer’s journey thus far highlights the power of adapting to new opportunities and building a new home away from home. As she begins the next chapter of her college experience at McIntire, she is certain to leverage her confidence, resilience, and desire to explore new avenues in her academic and extracurricular activities.

“I’m really excited that I’ll be getting exposure to so many things I’ve never had the opportunity to learn about. I can’t wait to take a deep dive into the many areas that business encompasses,” she says.

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