Blogger: Kelly McNeil     

When I was in high school, I really had an interest in math. Numbers and formulas were actually fun for me to figure out. When it came to choosing a college major, I felt that math wasn’t a good choice for me. Nothing against math majors, but what career choices do they really have? Being a mathematician, teaching, becoming a statistician? That’s where finance came to mind. I thought that working with businesses and analyzing the financial markets would be very interesting. So, finance it was.

I didn’t know much about accounting when I started college, but financial and managerial accounting were required courses for finance majors. Financial accounting didn’t appeal to me, but I loved managerial accounting. All of the formulas used in calculating costs and prices were fun, not to mention the great professor I had. I talked to some other finance majors who had switched to accounting and they mentioned that they liked the set rules laid out with accounting where in finance, it was all kind of guesswork based on the market. This really appealed to me to have guidelines to follow.

In one of my business classes, there was a short presentation for the Professional Program in Accounting at UTD. It is a program where you receive your master’s in accounting in five years total of college. They offer great exposure to accounting firms where there are internship opportunities. During the last year of the program, there are CPA review courses where you will sit for the CPA exam. This program sounded amazing! I couldn’t apply for it until my junior year, but I instantly went to our advising office to switch my major to accounting.

I am so glad I made this decision. I was accepted into the program, just completed an internship where I received a job offer, and have met some great friends and role models throughout the process. Sure your friends and family might grunt when they hear you are an accountant. I mean who wants to have a conversation about current accounting issues? Nonetheless, it is important to choose a career that you enjoy doing because you will potentially be doing it the rest of your life.