Personal Statement: The MACC Professional Accounting Program

Growing up in a family where most of the members attended and graduated college, my parents instilled in me the importance of hard work and the importance of being responsible. Attending college was an expectation of my parents and of myself, which caused me to excel academically throughout my elementary and high school years. When you are considered one of the “smart kids”, there is an aura of pride that surrounds you and becomes an integral part of your persona. I felt that college would be a breeze and would be like high school. How I could not be more wrong than when I was eighteen. Due to my naivete, I was academically dismissed from my University within the first semester. It was a blow that made me feel at times like I would not be able to recover from this. How could I have fallen to a point where topics and subjects that I excelled at effortlessly are no longer as easy as before? It was a reality check that changed my life forever. After that moment, I went back to the same college part-time every semester, including the summer and winter, got reinstated to full-time status and continued to work every semester , received an award from my college due to my perseverance, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and a Minor in Economics in 2017, only a year later than my original expected graduation date.

After graduating in 2017,  it was fairly difficult to find a job in the finance field back home in New Jersey. I spent the rest of the year working in retail as a Sales Consultant while searching for job opportunities. While I enjoyed the customer service aspect of my job and helping those that were in need, it was a far cry from what I felt I should be doing. As the opportunities came, I took advantage of them, leading me to work at a popular E-commerce company, a small accounting office, and lastly working in Accounts Receivable for a large manufacturing company, though none of them were in the finance field. Unfortunately, my time at the large manufacturing company was cut short due to COVID-19 and left me with the feeling of being back at square one. 

Despite the positions varying in a large degree, I enjoyed working in the small Accounting office the most because I was able to help various clients and able to answer their questions and provide any support I could, giving satisfaction not only to me but the clients as well. I started to visualize the possibility of running my own firm and becoming a CPA as I genuinely enjoyed working on tax returns for individuals and small businesses and projects, such as creating financial statements for an S-Corp with one of the senior accountants at the accounting office. I learned that in order to be successful in the field of Accounting, one not only has to be reliable and trustworthy in regards to maintaining the confidentiality of clients and their information, but also has to be detail-oriented and very organized with said information. After receiving a few performance reviews complimenting me on my ability to be an efficient worker while making little to no mistakes, I felt comfortable working in the accounting field. After researching the process of obtaining a CPA license in New Jersey, the Professional Accounting Program at Rutgers University became my first choice in pursuing my graduate studies. 

The MACC Professional Accounting Program would allow me to make a career change to a more stable field and overcome the challenging employment issues that are plaguing many in New Jersey. The program would ultimately let me utilize what I have learned in my short time at the accounting office, expand my knowledge in the field of accounting, and help prepare me specifically for the New Jersey CPA exam.