Growing up, it was drilled into my head that I had to be a doctor or an orthodontist. From grades K-12, I was always getting forced into thinking that I was going to go to a medical school (maybe Stony Brook University or something like that) and finally satisfy my parents.
12th grade comes around and it is time to start submitting applications for colleges. Every school I applied to was under pre-med. Stony Brook, Farmingdale, Adelphi, Hofstra, St. Joseph’s, and basically all of the local schools near the Long Island area were on my list. In one of my classes during senior year, my accounting teacher goes around the room and asks all the seniors what they were going to do after high school. Once he got to me, I told him my intended plans but he did not believe me. Turns out, I was always gifted at learning accounting more faster than others according to him. I never fully realized it at the time but it finally made sense. I actually found a school subject that I genuinely enjoyed and it did not feel like work to me.
He told me that I should reconsider my career choice and look at my options. He brought up accounting as a good career to get into. He introduced me to the types of jobs I can land and the schools that I should be looking at. Baruch College was up there and boom, I decided to completely change my major and it was for the better.
Now we are here, during my sophomore year of college. I am still going strong with accounting and I intend on becoming a CPA. These events led me to where I am right now with my goals in life. I want to finish my CPA eligibility in 2027, work in big 4, and hopefully open up my own firm. I know this is much easier said than done but I am pushed everyday to get to my goal and I feel like the environment at Baruch College will allow me to do so.