To apply, tell us why you’re interested in accounting and why you think accountants are important for others. Being an Accountant was not always my dream. I wanted to be so many other things, a fashion designer, a singer, maybe even an actress. As a senior in high school, I toured a fashion design college and had a real chance of attending. But like many young people, I wasn’t solid in my goals and did not attend any college at all. It wasn’t until I found out that I was pregnant with my first child that accounting started to be a goal. I said to myself what would be the best job I could get to make sure that I could provide for my child. At the time Accountant was one of the highest-paid positions. I started online college with Stratford University, and after the first class, I was hooked. My natural affinity for math flourished. And even though I had found my purpose I wouldn’t finish my classes with Stratford. It wasn’t until I was married with four children that I went to an actual college campus and took classes to become an Accountant. The day I received my books was the beginning of my journey. I immediately started to read the Principles of Accounting and took notes, tried to figure out formulas and memorized processes. And now that Accounting was my new love, I immediately soared to the head of the class making the Dean’s List of Excellence with a 3.8 GPA. So, as you can see it was by chance that my interest in accounting started. But it wasn’t by chance that I continued to pursue being an Accountant and now with over ten years’ experience I am working to obtain my bachelors. Accounting and accountants are important for the livelihood of the financial world. In my opinion, the financial world includes everyone from a grandma balancing her checkbook to the largest company in the world. The ability to track and manage finances is key to wealth and survival. Imagine a world without any accounting structure, no dos and don’ts of spending, and no tracking of funds. We would fall into an abyss of poverty, and violence. It would be kill or be killed for sheer survival. Maybe that’s extreme, but this is how much I value Accounting. However, I am sure I am biased. Accounting is and will be the foundation for our businesses to run, the structure for our government to maintain the finances of the nation, and the necessity needed for the everyday American to successfully run their household.

Tell us about you and your educational goals. What is an obstacle you faced in your life, and what did you learn from that experience? My name is Andria. I am a 46-year-old wife, mom, grandmother, and dog mom. I am currently working in the accounting field as a Staff Accountant. I have been employed in my current job for ten years and counting. I decided, last year, to continue my education and achieve a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. My educational goal is to complete my bachelor’s degree with a 4.0 GPA. I am a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and want to continue to network and gain knowledge on being a successful leader. I also plan to pursue a career as a Forensic Accountant. I enjoy the thrill of the find and feel that Forensic Accounting is the perfect field. I have always faced obstacles in my life. My first one was 22 years ago when my husband and I found out that our son had autism. We took the news hard but were determined to help him in every way possible. I learned from that experience that when faced with an obstacle the best solution is to be the solution. Even though there was information and guidance from all directions, my husband and I had to be the ones to produce a plan to help our son be his best self. Now even though he still has verbal limitations he can communicate with us and do most everything on his own. This obstacle was hard but not as hard as the one that I and my entire family are going through. On 4/13/23 we received the news that my husband was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer. This, by far, is the hardest thing we have had to face. But just like the diagnosis with our son, we must be the solution. We must make sure that his diet is correct so that he can be healthy enough for treatments. I am learning, from this experience, that we cannot give up. It is easy to through in the towel when you feel hopeless. The harder option is not taking defeat for an answer. We must push, fight, and believe that what we are doing will matter. My takeaway from it all is no matter how hard life is, I will never stop fighting for what I believe in and for who I love. Thank you for your consideration for this scholarship and I wish all the candidates good luck.

My dream version of my future self is to be a successful Forensic Accountant for a family-oriented company, and to be financially stable.

How has your experience with cancer - direct or indirect - affected your beliefs, relationships, and career aspirations? If you had asked me six months ago or even six days ago, this scholarship would not have pertained to me. My life was forever changed four days ago. My husband, my friend, and the love of my life were diagnosed with stage 3 cancer on April 12, 2023. We are devastated. As we sat and listened to the oncologist describe his cancer, Adenocarcinoma, my mind raced about the rest of our lives together. We hadn’t done so many things. We have not started our bucket list; we hadn’t bought our first home yet. And the one question we have could not be answered. How much time do we have left? It seems like nothing that I held as important means anything anymore. The only thing I can think of is how we could make the most of the time we have. We have four children and a grandson. How will we break the news to them? We spent the first two days crying in disbelief. Our religion helped to show us the positives of the situation. His cancer is inoperable but can be treated. We don’t have a terminal diagnosis so that means we have hope. We are firm believers in God, and even though this was the hardest thing we will go through, our faith was not shaken. We immediately prayed and asked God for healing. Our faith must be stronger than ever now. We always prayed for our safety and livelihood. We consistently gave our thanks for everything that God provided. This diagnosis will not change our beliefs or how we show our love and appreciation for God. Our belief teaches us that God has the final word in our lives and our deaths. Our family is extremely close. Everyone took the news in diverse ways. Our oldest daughter immediately started pointing out all the positives, our youngest daughter fought to hold back tears and had to excuse herself, our oldest son who has autism listened, but I am not sure how much he understood, and our youngest son was silent. We have yet to tell our grandson, he is only six and we cannot find the words. Hearing the news made us want to spend more time together. We don’t want to waste any opportunities to make memories. The entire reason that I decided to go back to school was so that I could further my career and increase my pay. I wanted to secure my husband and my retirement fund. I wanted our golden years to be worry-free. When you are living your life and making plans, you don’t think about the possibility of your time being shortened. That was naïve of me. My aspirations are not on hold, I need to work. All I can think of is spending every moment possible with my husband. I am still very hopeful that treatment will work and that his cancer can be controlled. I don’t know what the future holds for us and our family. It all still seems surreal to us. I know this scholarship will take some of the financial worries away. Money that I would spend out of pocket for my education could be put towards making memories with my husband and family. I know I am not the only one affected by cancer, but today it seems like a lonely world. Thank you for your consideration and I hope that all the other applicants affected by cancer can find hope and comfort.

Hello, my name is Andria Taylor. I am 45 years old, married with four adult children and one grandchild. I am a Staff Accountant/Client Services Supervisor at Prescient National, my job of 10 years. I decided to go back to school to bring more financial stability to my family. I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree. I have been accepted to the University of Phoenix. This scholarship opportunity spoke to me because I am the main caregiver in my home. My husband and I have a 21-year-old son that is on the ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). This essay is a look into my life. Our son PJ was diagnosed at 3 years old as being developmentally delayed. We noticed at 2 that he was not progressing as he should and that in fact, he had lost things that he had learned previously. I will never forget trying to play patty cake with him, a game we played daily, and the look in his eyes as though he had never experienced this before. Or the moment he stopped wanting to be kissed and hugged. It was devastating. But I immediately enrolled him in early intervention, which started him in school at age 3. He was given home therapy, speech and occupational. I remember walking into my job and telling them my son had Autism. I let them know that therapist would be at my home three times a week and that I needed to be there. I wanted to know everything about my son and how I could help him. My schedule was adjusted to part time, and they created a position for me, so that I could still thrive. In 2011, I decided to go to college to obtain my Associates degree. I needed to secure a better life for him after we were gone. During this time, I was going to school full time in the day, and then working part time at night. I spent so many nights physically and mentally exhausted. I graduated and started my new job as a Client Services Rep. Over the years of his being in school I would often have to miss work for IEP’s (Individualized Education Plans), school activities, and the Special Olympics. Right before he went to high school, I was informed by his speech therapist that he had plateaued. He knew some words, no sentences, he pointed to communicate. It was super stressful. My husband did everything he could to help, but I was the primary on making sure our son was privy to everything available for him to succeed. I would be his advocate, his cheerleader, and his teacher. I bought books and printed off worksheets so that I could help him communicate. He graduated in 2018 but was still in school. He had made some progressions, still not speaking in full sentences, but he could now let me know if he was hungry or hurt. Fast forward to 2020, the pandemic. His school transitioned to remote and so did my job. We sat side by side. I was working and making sure he was engaged in his video remote classes. I have always thought of him with every decision made, and I always will. His future is important to us. He needs to have the best life that he can. My going back to college will make sure that he is taken care of long after we are gone. This scholarship would help me achieve the stability I need for him. Thank you for your consideration.

When I decided to go back to school at age 45, I was sure I had gone crazy. Who willingly signs up for this much responsibility? Four more years of demanding work and studying so that I can achieve my bachelor’s degree in accounting. While I was pondering about the humongous step I had taken, I spoke to myself as I have spoken to my children in the past. “The world is here for you to grab, and you are never too old to do anything.” There, that did it. I was motivated to make the leap. I signed up for school and filled out my FASFA. I gathered information, from my job of 10 years, about tuition reimbursement and dived headfirst into scholarships. And then it hit me, I would have to complete numerous essays describing myself as a leader, an entrepreneur, and future businesswomen of African American decent. Oh, my, God, I was not ready but here I am....completing this essay. Going back to college will be my greatest achievement, outside of having children, getting married, and being a grandmother. (wink) The fact that I am choosing to put one more thing on my full plate, is ridiculous. But do you know what? Challenge accepted. I will be able to look at my children and grandson and say, "look at me I did this for a better life for us". I faced this head on and even though I am terrified, I am all in. Being able to show my family that anything is possible...makes this my greatest achievement. I have learned that you are always capable of experiencing something new; being educated about something new. Even at 45 I can look at myself and set new goals, amend my existing routine. It is amazing. I have no idea financially how this will work out; this is a leap of faith. I must be able to bet on myself to win. I did not know I was such a risk taker, but if you want a major change, you must take major steps. Look at me, living on the edge. After getting my Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, I hope to have a large pay increase. I want to make sure my family is financially stable, buy a house, and not live paycheck to paycheck. I know this degree is not a cure all, but it is certainly a start to a new way of living for us. A fresh start period.