Kevin Montminy, Integrated MAcc Class of 2016

Balancing a varsity sport and the MAcc Program

Throughout my time at Penn State, choosing to apply for the Integrated Master of Accounting Program has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. Not only have I learned from distinguished professors and worked through this program with bright and hard-working students, I have also been able to network with some of the largest accounting firms in the world and secure an internship for the summer of 2015 with KPMG. The MAcc program has allowed me to grow personally, academically, and professionally into the person I am today.

While my academic and business responsibilities are many within the MAcc program, my responsibilities outside of accounting are just as demanding. As a part of the Men’s Varsity Basketball Team and a scholar in the Schreyer Honors College, I couldn’t imagine my experience at Penn State without either. After I was accepted into the MAcc program, I worried about whether or not I could maintain the high grades that Schreyer requires while still working hard at both practices and games as a Nittany Lion basketball player. Entering my first semester as a MAcc student I was still apprehensive about the workload I was about to take on with practice every day and away games multiple times a week all over the country.

However, after a few weeks I found out that being involved on campus (whether it be a varsity sport or deeply involved in a student organization) is not only allowed, but highly welcomed and encouraged. In many of my major courses in the MAcc program, I have had group projects that force everyone in the program to understand how to work well in a group. For me being on a varsity sport, I was truly able to transfer what I have learned on the court to the classroom in terms of teamwork for group projects. The same goes for many of my peers who are involved in a variety of amazing organizations. Building these teamwork skills outside of the classroom has been vital to my peers’ and my success in the MAcc program and will continue to be critical to our success in our careers.

In the MAcc program, I am able to gain the technical and personable skills to be successful in the business world all while balancing a varsity sport and honors courses. While this balance has been difficult at times I couldn’t be more appreciative of the time that MAcc professors have spent with me in office hours or at review sessions going over some of the material that I may have missed because of an away game during class. All of my professors have held me to a high standard but have also understood the importance of my involvement in other aspects of Penn State. They are willing to spend that extra time with me to make sure that I understand the material in order to be successful not only in the classroom but in my career. My experiences in Schreyer, on the men’s basketball team, and in the MAcc program have opened doors for me that I never knew existed.