As a student at Montgomery County Community College, Chris needed to transfer to a four-year university to continue his studies and earn a bachelor's degree. That's when he discovered GMercyU.
"I was introduced to a transfer counselor named Emma Spangler who took the time to explain to me the different opportunities that GMercyU had to offer for potential transfer students," Chris said.
Chris decided to major in Accounting as he always had an interest and could see himself working in this area post-graduation. What has stood out the most to Chris so far in GMercyU's Accounting program has been the professors.
"Every professor I had in my first semester stood out in some way and definitely made me feel like I made the right choice when transferring to this university."
One professor in particular who has made a difference has been Professor Carlo Silvesti. Professor Silvesti is a long-time faculty member in GMercyU's Accounting program and has decades of real-life, practical experience in the field that he brings to the classroom.
"He was very encouraging to the class as a whole, but also individually to me when we had discussions about future plans like my internship this summer," Chris said. "He's also very knowledgeable of the Accounting world and brings his experiences into the class to help everyone better understand how to use them in our post GMercyU lives."
Real-World Accounting Experience
Chris secured a paid internship with the Accounting firm Detweiler Hershey for this upcoming summer after attending GMercyU's Business Career Expo in the fall. The Business Career Expo featured dozens of companies who were looking to hire interns and employees from GMercyU.
"Mr. Whalen [from the Career Development Center] was a monumental help in landing the internship as he helped me recreate my resume from the ground up making it stand out to the companies that came out for the expo," Chris said. "Furthermore, he was readily available to meet or email anytime I had a question about what I needed to do to better prepare myself."
After he completes this internship, Chris also plans to participate in the 240-hour work experience that is offered in GMercyU's Accounting program. After sophomore year, students can participate in a paid 240-hour work experience to help hone their practical application of accounting principles and build their resume and networking connections. To make this semester-long internship possible, GMercyU arranges a student's course schedule around it with online and evening classes. Many students receive job offers as a result of these internships.
Chris is also pursuing his CPA and thanks to his professors and advisors is on track to meet the credit hour requirements by the time he takes the exam. After graduating, Chris plans on pursuing his MBA.
