Before Beloit
What attracted you to Beloit College?
In high school, I was heavily involved in athletics, mainly in football. So for college, I was looking for a school that offered me the chance to continue pursuing football (where I could play football with my twin brother) and delivered academic rigor with a proven track record of placing alumni in their career fields of choice. Beloit’s national ranking among liberal arts colleges caught my eye. The more I researched about liberal arts colleges and their strengths, the more I became convinced that Beloit was a top choice. After my campus visit, I trusted the coaching staff and their vision for the football program. I was also impressed with the campus’ layout and infrastructure. All of those factors led to my final decision to attend Beloit College.
In high school, I was heavily involved in athletics, mainly in football. So for college, I was looking for a school that offered me the chance to continue pursuing football (where I could play football with my twin brother) and delivered academic rigor with a proven track record of placing alumni in their career fields of choice. Beloit’s national ranking among liberal arts colleges caught my eye. The more I researched about liberal arts colleges and their strengths, the more I became convinced that Beloit was a top choice. After my campus visit, I trusted the coaching staff and their vision for the football program. I was also impressed with the campus’ layout and infrastructure. All of those factors led to my final decision to attend Beloit College.
Year 1
How was your first-year experience at Beloit College?
I came to Beloit with a goal-oriented mentality, even though my goals had changed throughout my 4-year at Beloit. My goal during my time at Beloit was to advance and leverage my skills athletically and academically. In my freshman year, I was part of the Football team - my goal when I was a high school student. For me, joining the Football team was not simply me pursuing my hobby; it was more about being surrounded by my second family - the Football team. I always had a great support system, my twin and my close friends on the football team, to help go through every thick and thin up until now. I also earned my very first Dean’s List award after the spring semester of freshman year.
My most important advice to first-year students would be to discover the courses that they are talented in. This will lead to successful results in terms of grades, fulfillment, and learning opportunities.
I came to Beloit with a goal-oriented mentality, even though my goals had changed throughout my 4-year at Beloit. My goal during my time at Beloit was to advance and leverage my skills athletically and academically. In my freshman year, I was part of the Football team - my goal when I was a high school student. For me, joining the Football team was not simply me pursuing my hobby; it was more about being surrounded by my second family - the Football team. I always had a great support system, my twin and my close friends on the football team, to help go through every thick and thin up until now. I also earned my very first Dean’s List award after the spring semester of freshman year.
Playing in a football game
What is one piece of advice you would give to first-year students?My most important advice to first-year students would be to discover the courses that they are talented in. This will lead to successful results in terms of grades, fulfillment, and learning opportunities.
Year 2
When did you declare your majors and minors?
I declared my major in Business Economics and my minor in English during the spring semester of sophomore year.
How has your decision to declare that major and minor influenced your career pathway?
The content of the business economics curriculum played a crucial role in me knowing industry terms and concepts prevalent in public accounting advisory. Economics and English both helped me work in an environment where I must write and work quantitatively at the same time. My professors always encouraged me to challenge myself, and my professors also demanded high-quality work and result from their students. Beloit’s commitment to high standards and performance mimics that of EY (my current working company), and that was a benefit in terms of my adjustment to full-time work. Beloit’s in-person instruction played a vital role as well. Working and learning closely from professors has been a huge advantage of mine compared to some peers who have said that their education was more impersonal and disconnected.
I declared my major in Business Economics and my minor in English during the spring semester of sophomore year.
How has your decision to declare that major and minor influenced your career pathway?
The content of the business economics curriculum played a crucial role in me knowing industry terms and concepts prevalent in public accounting advisory. Economics and English both helped me work in an environment where I must write and work quantitatively at the same time. My professors always encouraged me to challenge myself, and my professors also demanded high-quality work and result from their students. Beloit’s commitment to high standards and performance mimics that of EY (my current working company), and that was a benefit in terms of my adjustment to full-time work. Beloit’s in-person instruction played a vital role as well. Working and learning closely from professors has been a huge advantage of mine compared to some peers who have said that their education was more impersonal and disconnected.
Year 3
How has the Beloit academic experience supported you with transferring the classroom learning into real-life professional working knowledge?
The Duffy Partnerships program is the course to take if you want to gain hands-on experience while still earning a credit course. I was accepted into that program in my junior year and placed at Hendrick Commercial Properties. The internship was my first exposure to a professional setting with working etiquette and industry knowledge. The summer after my junior year, I also got my first internship with Rodl & Partner as the International Tax Intern through Professor Laura Grube and Econ department alumni. The success I had with Rodl & Partners shaped my direction in my career pathway, especially in the area of focus (public accounting) and choices of companies I would be interested in having my 9-to-5 job (EY).
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The Duffy Partnerships program is the course to take if you want to gain hands-on experience while still earning a credit course. I was accepted into that program in my junior year and placed at Hendrick Commercial Properties. The internship was my first exposure to a professional setting with working etiquette and industry knowledge. The summer after my junior year, I also got my first internship with Rodl & Partner as the International Tax Intern through Professor Laura Grube and Econ department alumni. The success I had with Rodl & Partners shaped my direction in my career pathway, especially in the area of focus (public accounting) and choices of companies I would be interested in having my 9-to-5 job (EY).
Intern at Rodl & Partners
Year 4
Throughout your 4-year at Beloit, what courses do you feel were instrumental in helping you achieve your career goals?
Money and Banking, International Trade and Finance, Accounting, and Marketing Research were highly instrumental. All of those courses covered key concepts and scenarios which I encounter in financial services. As economics students, we would have a symposium day each year. I wrote down notes from those lectures, and I tried to emulate the experiences and the courses that the panelists highlighted. I also held two campus roles as a Teaching Assistant (TA) and as a Data Analyst. Those two campus roles, especially the Accounting TA position with Professor Diep Phan during my senior year, enabled me to train my communication and technology skills.
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Money and Banking, International Trade and Finance, Accounting, and Marketing Research were highly instrumental. All of those courses covered key concepts and scenarios which I encounter in financial services. As economics students, we would have a symposium day each year. I wrote down notes from those lectures, and I tried to emulate the experiences and the courses that the panelists highlighted. I also held two campus roles as a Teaching Assistant (TA) and as a Data Analyst. Those two campus roles, especially the Accounting TA position with Professor Diep Phan during my senior year, enabled me to train my communication and technology skills.
Graduation with my twin brother and my friend
After Beloit
Could you please share with us your current work? What does day-to-day work look like?
After Beloit, I’m currently working as a full-time staff at Ernst & Young LLP (EY). My current career is in EY’s International Tax and Transaction Services (ITTS) practice. Within that practice, there are different service lines. I am in the ITTS Transfer Pricing service line. Transfer Pricing deals with multinational enterprises whose affiliates transact with each other. These “intercompany transactions” are payment flows between countries that have different tax rates. This is the core concept of my position, and I am responsible for documenting clients’ intercompany transactions to determine if they are priced equitably. While documenting intercompany transactions, there are regulatory requirements to meet. Because of this, I often employ different skill sets regularly to deliver the required documentation. Those skill sets include the following: financial analysis, tax research across countries, leveraging technology and automated tools, and technical writing.
After Beloit, I’m currently working as a full-time staff at Ernst & Young LLP (EY). My current career is in EY’s International Tax and Transaction Services (ITTS) practice. Within that practice, there are different service lines. I am in the ITTS Transfer Pricing service line. Transfer Pricing deals with multinational enterprises whose affiliates transact with each other. These “intercompany transactions” are payment flows between countries that have different tax rates. This is the core concept of my position, and I am responsible for documenting clients’ intercompany transactions to determine if they are priced equitably. While documenting intercompany transactions, there are regulatory requirements to meet. Because of this, I often employ different skill sets regularly to deliver the required documentation. Those skill sets include the following: financial analysis, tax research across countries, leveraging technology and automated tools, and technical writing.