By: Cat Pastoor
College of DuPage Accounting students Aisha Garrett and Shamak Shah were two of only 30 students recently selected to participate in the prestigious Mary T. Washington Wylie Internship Preparation Program with the Certified Public Accountants Endowment Fund of Illinois and the Illinois Certified Public Accountants Society.
The experience featured panels, info sessions and workshops to prepare participants for internship interviews with elite public accounting firms.
“Initially I just saw it as a small scholarship opportunity, but later I realized it was way more than a scholarship,” said Shah, who was introduced to the program by Accounting Professor Maureen McBeth. “It gave us the opportunity to learn more about the accounting profession.”
At the end of the program, Shah was offered a summer internship at Crowe LLP, and he feels that every step he took to get there was worth it.
“I clearly had much better insight into my career after this program,” he said.
Garrett said through the encouragement of COD Assistant Professor Ian Harr and the internship program’s help with LinkedIn networking, resume building and interviewing, she cultivated a newfound confidence in herself. Like Shah, she was also offered a summer internship by Crowe LLP at the end of the program.
“It was really informative and helpful to speak to different accountants and see how you can use a certified public accountant or accounting background to help with different companies,” Garrett said. “I want to thank my professor for pushing me to apply, since without him, I wouldn’t have made it to the Mary T. Washington Wylie program, and without that, I would not have gotten that interview and offer from Crowe.”
The Mary T. Washington Wylie Internship Preparation Program honors the legacy of Chicago native Mary T. Washington Wylie, who was the first black woman to become a CPA in 1943. The program is intended to honor her trailblazing legacy and build diversity in the accounting profession by connecting racial minority college students to top accounting firms.
The Accounting program at College of DuPage provides a thorough education in accounting principles in a variety of areas, including tax, business and technology.