BA, Business, Goshen College
MS, Drexel University
When you were a child, what did you want to
be when you grew up?
A trial lawyer (from grade six on).
Why or how did you
choose this field?
I always liked to argue and was pretty good at it.
What’s exciting about
your job or this field?
I obviously didn’t follow through on becoming a lawyer. I chose accounting because I like
quantitative issues, I like to solve problems, and I like tax law. Accounting is learning how to tell a story
with numbers. Tax is about solving a big
puzzle. What’s better than a good story
and a good puzzle?
What’s the best
advice you’ve ever been given?
Your first job should be one where you have the opportunity
to develop skills and learn new ones. You probably won’t save the world in your first job, but hopefully you will
learn the skills you need to save the world when that opportunity comes later
in your career.
What are you really
proud of?
Passing all 4 parts of the CPA exam in one sitting. At the time I took the exam only about 6% of
people taking the exam passed it in one sitting.
What would you do
differently?
When I was in college, internships were not a common thing
to do. I wish that I would have had the
opportunity to put my academic learning into practice before I graduated. Internships are a great way to experience the
real world for short periods of time, identify new skills, and areas for
improvement. I graduated from college
without a clear sense of what I wanted to do. I figured it out during my first job and am glad that I took the path I
did. However, I would have enjoyed
experiencing the business world through internships before I graduated.
What advice would you
give to a young person just starting out?
Choose
a first job that provides opportunities for
professional development and builds new skills. Experience as much as
you can in your first year or two of work. A variety of experiences
will help you
identify what you like (and don’t like) to do. These experiences will
help you define the kind of career you want to
have.
