Xinyue Hippe
Former Council Scholarship recipient Xinyue Hippe’s schooling took her all over the globe. The Milwaukee native started college at Calvin University in Michigan, where she studied Chinese, Spanish and German. She had the opportunity to spend a semester in Spain before returning to her home town to finish her degree in Spanish Language and Literature at UW-Milwaukee, graduating in 2024. “After spending a few months in Spain, I realized that Michigan wasn’t for me and I wanted to be closer to home,” Xinyue says.
A language degree doesn’t necessarily translate to a specific career path, Xinyue says. But it did provide her with skills that can be applied wherever she chooses to go. Today, Xinyue lives in Milwaukee and works as an accessibility analyst for the e-learning company Curriculum Associates. There, she uses her screen reader skills to test the company’s many e-learning programs and products to ensure they are fully accessible to students who are blind or low vision.
In addition to her day job, Xinyue volunteers regularly with the nonprofit Audio & Braille Literacy Enhancement (ABLE) as a proofreader for their Spanish braille transcriptions. Xinyue also serves on ABLE’s Board of Directors. She says the work she does with ABLE helps her to feel more involved with her community. “I like feeling like I’m contributing toward the education of students,” Xinyue says. “I’m also mentoring at events like the Braille Games and things like that. It’s very rewarding to be kind of a steward for the community. ABLE did a lot of transcriptions for me when I was in school, so I try to get involved whenever they need people to step in.”
The future holds many different possible paths, Xinyue says. She could stay in her current job, but she is also considering going to law school to study either family or international law. Xinyue says that what you study in college doesn’t have to lock into one specific career path. “Just because what you’re doing after graduating doesn’t feel like it’s directly tied to your studies, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile,” she says. “You’re still learning extremely useful skills that you can use down the line. I feel like I heard ‘Oh you should study something more useful’ a lot when I was getting my language degree. I’m so glad the Council Scholarship didn’t have stipulations; it made me feel like I was being invested in no matter what I was doing.”
For decades, the Council has awarded scholarships to Wisconsin students who are blind or low vision to help enhance their education and achieve their professional goals. We are currently accepting applications for 2026 Council Scholarships, which are now open to both full- and half-time postsecondary students. The application deadline is Wednesday, March 25. You can learn more and apply today on our website.