From Receptionist to Accountant

Mar 2020

Nancy Tapusoa, an integrated studies and accounting student from Kearns, Utah, enrolled in BYU–Pathway Worldwide as soon as she returned home from her mission. “I was nervous about going back to school, especially transitioning from a mission,” says Nancy. When she was just about finished, she learned about the opportunities available for BYU–Pathway students at LDSBC. “It was exactly what I was looking for, and the Pathway Scholarship made it so affordable,” she says.

In one of her accounting classes, she and other students “were given a shoebox filled with receipts and invoices and were asked to put together financial statements,” says Nancy. “About a week later, I was telling my boss about it, and he came back with his shoebox of receipts and stuff for me to organize. This really happened. The things I was learning were really applicable and necessary in the real world.”

Nancy continues: “Now my boss always comes in and asks if I’ve learned anything interesting. I’ll tell him a few things, and he’ll say, ‘Can you get me a report like that?’ I’ve been able to move into their accounting spot, and they’ve really let me go at it. There are eight locations in their counseling business right now, and I’ve gone from being the receptionist to doing the accounting for all of them. As I am learning things in class, I go to work the next day and put it into practice with whatever I’m working on. I’m now taking over payroll responsibilities and preparing for the taxes that we’re going to file soon.”

After only two years, Nancy has become skilled and very employable. “I have the tools that I need,” she says. “My bosses actually sent referrals to a few other businesses, so I now have my own LLC registered with the state, and I have six or seven business clients that I’m doing accounting for. The cool part is that I didn’t have to finish the program completely before I was able to do these things. I registered the business after three semesters at LDSBC.”

Nancy will graduate soon with an associate of science in integrated studies and an accounting certificate. “LDSBC has given me the opportunity to have affordable schooling but study something that’s going to carry me through for the rest of my life,” says Nancy. “You don’t just learn things, you become a better person. It becomes a part of who you are instead of just something that you do. We go out there and affect a lot of things, but ultimately what matters most is who we are at the end of the day. LDSBC makes me a better person, and I think that’s really all the preparation I need for life.”