Fatima Cruz is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Accountancy and expecting her graduation in 2022. She shares her personal and professional experience in this article

Hometown: Elgin, IL

Year: Expected graduation: 2022

Major: Accountancy

Transfer from: Elgin Community College

What scholarships did you receive and why did you receive them? How has the financial support impacted your experience at NIU?

I received a DREAM Action Scholarship. This scholarship was offered by DREAM Action NIU through two donors I was pleased to meet this semester. The goal of this scholarship is to increase the number of underrepresented students who attend and graduate from NIU. This scholarship was introduced by Sandy Lopez’s office in the Division of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at NIU. I also received a transfer merit scholarship and an accountancy scholarship. Most of my education has been funded by these scholarships, and it’s a relief that I get to graduate debt-free.

What did you want to be when you were growing up? Are you pursuing that as a major, or have you taken another path?

Growing up, as I admired my mom coming from work in a suit, I knew that I wanted to be someone in the business field. As I went through various stages in life, I wanted to do something related to the forensics field, and then I wished to go into business administration. After taking a few courses related to business admin, I didn’t feel a sense of achievement. Therefore, I chose to major in accountancy. I want to pursue forensics accounting later in my career after I get experience with auditing (and maybe assurance).

What is your major (and/or minor) and why did you decide on this course of study?

In a managerial accounting class I took at my community college, Professor Packard brought a different insight into accountancy. He said that it involves finding business solutions and solving problems. Seeing accounting in this new light, I chose to pursue it as a major at NIU, as it is well known for accountancy. I chose to pursue a minor in business analytics because it’s important to facilitate decision-making processes with the use of data. Data is today’s digital gold, and I did not want to miss this opportunity to be able to analyze it.

What has been something you have found pleasantly surprising about your experience at NIU?

In my NIU experience, there is a sense of community between students, professors and faculty. Everyone is so respectful, and I feel safe around campus.

How have you connected with other students to study for classes, meet new people or form new friendships?

I have, and it was during my first semester as a transfer student at NIU. Ironically, it was when campus was closed. I was part of a student-led Discord group. When campus opened, we were all finally able to meet up at NIU and have someone to talk to in our classes. Through them, our social group got bigger, and I am happy to have met them. With them, I had a support group and studied at Barsema Hall until late (we had a pizza party during several studying sessions). This and members of the organizations that I was part of.

Are you involved in any student organizations, mentoring programs or extra-curricular activities? If so, which ones? How have they added to your experience as a Huskie?

I am part of Adela de la Torre Latino Honor Society (ATLHS). It’s a community of scholastic leaders who give service to the community. Through this organization, I’m exposed to like-minded, high-achieving students who value service and bring a positive image of the Latinx community. I am also a member of College of Business student organization Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), which encourages professional excellence and promotes high ethical standards for members. With this organization, I am able to be recognized for my scholastic work. This last semester, I was the community service officer for the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA). With this team, I experienced a leadership development opportunity and was able to contribute to the betterment of the organization.

Who has been one of your favorite instructors/professors and why? What course did they teach?

Professor Biagio Palese, in the College of Business Department of OMIS, taught me predictive analytics and introduced me to R studio. I enjoyed the coding portion of this class and loved the coding group project in which we got to answer a leading question from a chosen dataset through analysis.

Where is your favorite spot on campus or in the community? Why are you drawn to it?

The NIU East Lagoon is my favorite spot on campus. Before the semester started, I went kayaking there with a friend of mine by renting a kayak from NIU’s Outdoor Adventures group. I definitely recommend this activity to everyone before graduating. It was an incredible NIU experience.

What advice would you give to a student who is applying to colleges?

Compare different tuition rates and be cost-conscious. Take advantage of the resources you are given at your chosen institution.

Coming to college, what is something that you have had to learn to do differently?

As a commuter student, I planned my classes to be only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This meant that I had to plan my schedule differently, as I had back-to-back classes throughout the entire day with 15-minute gaps. After my last class, I had meetings for different organizations. Google Calendar was my most-used tool.

What do you do to relax or recharge?

I love to go on nature walks and binge-watch k-dramas (preferably crime, thriller or mystery).

This content from the COB News is reshared about her personal and professional experience.