When Daniel Meier walked into Jenn Welander's ACTG 211 class during his sophomore year, he was still searching for a major. That class changed everything. After talking with Professor Welander about what a career in accounting could look like, Daniel declared accounting as his major that fall.
“I ultimately decided to pursue a master’s in accounting after my senior year because I wanted another year of technical hands-on accounting experience before entering the workforce,” he explained. “It also gave me an opportunity to complete the CPA exams without having to balance a full-time job on top of that.”
By the time he entered the Master of Accounting (MAcc) program, Daniel knew exactly where he wanted to focus: audit. The decision was practical (he already had an audit-track job lined up) but it was also personal. The required audit courses matched how he liked to learn: less lecture, more case studies and discussions. Professors sat down one on one with students to work through financial statements and projections, pointing out what good auditing looks like and, just as important, what to avoid.
That hands-on approach paid off. Daniel passed all four sections of the CPA exam during his time in the program, on the first try, all while carrying a full course load. He credits a big part of that success to the MAcc community itself. Faculty pushed students to schedule their exams early, and classmates who were tackling the same sections became built-in study partners and sounding boards.
Looking back, Daniel says the people made the program. What started as a room of mostly strangers on orientation day turned into a cohort he now considers lifelong friends and professional allies.
“My cohort didn’t just become my friends,” he said. “They have become people I can lean on throughout my career as a reference point, someone to catch up with, and people that I know I can count on.”
This fall, Daniel heads to KPMG's Portland office as an audit associate, with an eye toward eventually working abroad and, someday, leading a company of his own.
His advice to future MAcc students choosing their own path: build a routine you can stick to, expect to make sacrifices, and don't forget to take care of yourself along the way.
—Megan Jessup-Varnum, Lundquist College Communications