While most incoming high school juniors might spend their last week of the summer hanging out with friends and savoring the sun, Daviess County High School’s Seth Johnson had something else in mind.
Johnson was selected as one of 25 high school students to participate in the Accounting Career Awareness Summer Residency Program at the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics Von Allmen School of Accountancy. The residency ran from July 29 – August 2.
Johnson, who aspires to have a career as a dentist or oral surgeon, said he heard about the opportunity from his father who is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
“I decided to try it because I didn’t know if I’d like it,” Johnson said. “It was mainly exploring the different career options with accounting. Most people think you just sit and type in numbers all day; it’s a whole lot more than that.”
Johnson said that he and the other students had the opportunity to stay on campus for five days and visit businesses in Lexington and Cincinnati such as Valvoline and Tempur Sealy.
Olivia Davis, CPA, and Program Chair, said with the current focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), the number of young people entering the accounting field and working as CPA’s is dwindling.
“The accounting profession overall needs a boost to get young people interested in it and get them exposure to see what is available,” Davis said, adding that visiting the world headquarters for some of these businesses provides students that exposure.
“I have been living this as my platform getting out there and talking to high school students,” said Davis, who expanded the program from the University of Louisville to UK. “I was that kid that was perfect for it but no one ever told me about it. It’s a great path to a great career path.”
Davis said the students are also able to work on refining their “soft skills and interpersonal skills with a broad range of people in the accounting profession.”
“We had an excellent group come to UK,” Davis said, adding that there were 25 students from three different states and 15 different high schools represented.
Throughout the residency program, the five teams of five students were asked to design a product or service connected to UK business school, which was to include a marketing plan and a business model. Johnson’s team presented their idea for a unique shoe insert design to the resident campers and the panel, winning first place.
Johnson said his original intention before attending the summer residency was to go to UK or a state school and pursue his marketing or business degree. Now that he has had a few lectures about business, he is considering changing his degree to accounting.
“I always knew I would have to have some sort of business degree to run a medical office,” Johnson said. “So I wasn’t completely out of the loop as far as the business goes.”
