Senior Nicollina Ballone heard about the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Accounting Careers Leadership Institute (ACLI) at Bryant University from an email, and after further research on what it had to offer, it became evident to her that she simply had to apply. The draw to the program, for Ballone, was her desire to learn more about accounting and Bryant.
The application process for this program was extensive and students had to include their academic transcript, a letter of recommendation from a teacher or advisor, as well as a personal statement detailing why they are interested in the program.
Despite the applicants coming from all around the country, Ballone shared that when she found out she was accepted she was ecstatic but nervous, “I was also really scared because there were kids coming from California, from Texas, Chicago, Florida, New York, all over the country.”
The PwC ACLI ran in June during the summer. The program for high school seniors was five days long and was meant to give students the opportunity to experience college life and learn about the accounting profession.
Students participated in hands-on workshops on topics like auditing and data analytics, and also got to visit a PwC office and meet with professionals from the field. There, they learned about leadership, teamwork, and college applications, and also got to experience college life by living on campus.
Ballone shared that, “there were two days back to back where we had a lesson from eight in the morning to twelve, and then we had another one from two to five. Then we’d get team bonding time.”
Bryant University has a nationally recognized accounting program within its college of business. The school has a strong focus on business education, with a particular focus on accounting. The accounting program is consistently ranked highly, placing in the top 5% of the country in 2023 by College Factual.
An average day at the program consisted of touring campus, going to lectures, and business focused team bonding activities. On top of everything, students were also tasked with compiling everything they learned throughout the week into a presentation that they presented to the other students and faculty in the program on the last day.
Ballone shared that she was nervous to present because of how many parents, professors, and other students were watching. “I thought I was gonna mess up when I was saying my information from the slide and all of the different professors that were there were gonna judge me, so I was nervous to present in front of them,” shared Ballone.
To simulate what their futures may look like if they choose to take this path, students were also expected to dress very formal throughout the week, especially when visiting offices and going into Boston.
Ballone expressed that one key part of business is being able to communicate with people. She feels that all the team bonding activities that they participated in were very beneficial in teaching how to be effective when engaging in conversation with a wide variety of people.
One of the team bonding activities Ballone described stood out to her amongst the others. The students worked together to build bikes for kids in the foster care system. Ballone expressed that it was well worth it because “we were able to make the little kids happy.”
Most of the mentors in the program were business students at Bryant. Getting to hear their personal experiences, Ballone said, is something that persuaded her to want to go into business even more.
Students sat through presentations from professionals at PwC, were called on to answer questions and provide input, and were tasked with taking thorough notes. One skill that stuck with Ballone was, “you could think that you’re a really good presenter, and you make eye contact and all of that, but you have to be very engaging, and you have to make sure that you get to your point rather quickly because it can get really boring.”
Ballone found it very valuable to be able to get real time feedback from the professors and professionals at PwC. She felt that she was able to effectively improve skills like note-taking, which may seem small, but are actually a foundational skill when going into a field like business, or more specifically, accounting.
Ballone felt that it was “a really cool opportunity for me to go to Boston in their office, the actual Pwc office, and see first hand what it’s like to be in the office and what people actually do throughout the day.”
Ballone shared that she would advise others considering joining a program like PwC ACLI to “ just go for it.” “Overall it’s just so worth it because if it’s something that you’re really interested in, no matter if you’re going for nursing, dentistry, sports medicine, anything like that, it’s a good starting point for you to really get that college experience.”
Ballone believes that whether one is looking to go into the field of business or not, the experiences that she had at Bryant could be carried over and be of value in many other professions. Ballone advises others to silence any reservations they may have about applying and simply take a chance.
Ballone stated, “I went into it thinking that I wouldn’t get accepted because kids from all across the country were able to apply, and there could be other people that were way better than me that could get accepted. But I got accepted. I took that chance.”
