¶ … grandmother used to say to me in her native Russian, "Do whatever you love; money flows from love, not the other way around." I have always heeded her advice and never hesitated to pursue career paths that fulfilled and stimulated me. Accounting is the professional path that I have been following eagerly for many years, and although my education is still unfinished, I am already reaping the personal rewards of going after my dreams. Several years ago I commenced my studies at Pace University. An already focused student when I enrolled, I immediately set my goals on getting my accounting degree in as little time as possible. Therefore, the accelerated Bachelor's/Master's program was one of the main reasons why I selected to study at Pace. I had anticipated a tough ride, with challenging coursework, expanded awareness of the business world, and in-depth reports and projects. What I did not foresee were the amazing connections that I would make with professors and other students, people who were, like me, completely dedicated and in love with their field. Since I have been studying as an undergraduate at Pace, I have made the Dean's list and honor roll, maintained a high GPA, and earned a position with the Pace Trustee Scholarship. Perhaps my biggest achievement to date was my recent placing second among all Northeastern candidates in the 2005 ALPFA & KPMG Accounting...

The competition was in some ways my first taste of the real world that awaits me once my degree is in hand, for through it I not only pushed myself to my utmost limits but also made some meaningful business, scholastic, and personal contacts that will remain with me for years to come. As a junior, I have already thrived here at Pace and hope now to continue the academic portion of my journey by securing admission into the university's MBA Program in Accounting.
With the MBA I will have the final notch in my academic career and can then step into the world of professional accounting. As you can glean from the nature of my Pace coursework and of the project that earned me accolades in the ALPFA & KPMG competition, I am particularly interested in working with mid-sized companies to help them achieve maximum profit and viability. I still have a long way to go before grasping fully the implications of tax law, but already I possess a fundamental understanding of the nature of business expenditures. The project that I entered into the competition focused on the teenage-oriented mass retail industry, a business sector that will continue to flourish in the years to come, and one with rich marketing potential. Teenagers have really only been considered such a viable target population for marketers over the past several decades, which is why I feel that further business opportunities await with companies that do focus on young adults. Whether music or clothing, products aimed at teenagers will…