What are you doing now?
I work in Accounts Payable at a large PR firm. I research, code, and enter invoices, do check runs, and keep up on my vendors.

What inspired you to pursue accounting
as a career?
I got interested when I was managing a restaurant and helping with the books. I liked the process of keeping the finances organized and finding out where the money went.

Did you consider other schools?
I was working full time, so community college or another regular college would have been hard. Plus, Pioneer was really close, so it worked out great.

Describe an average day while you
were in school:
I'd get up at 5:30; work from 7-4, then go to school 5:30 - 10:00 four nights a week.

Sounds like a busy life. How did you make
it all work?
I had my calendar all set up on my computer, so I knew where I was supposed to be all the time!

What inspires you to continue working hard?
My goal in life is to get to a place where I don't even have to think about money. I don't need to be rich, but I just want it to not be an issue, not something that has to be discussed all the time. Like, "how I'm going to pay for this?" I just want to be able to do something I enjoy and make a great life.

What are you most proud of?
I'm just glad that I finally got a degree. I'm not that old, I'm only 25, but there was a point where it seemed like I would never get one. My sister's getting her Masters! I'm just glad that I stuck with it. I do have plans to go on to get my bachelor's; it feels good that I'm actually going forward. My mom's pretty happy, too!

What did you like most about Pioneer Pacific?
They just make it so easy. They set up your classes for you. You just have to show up. They loan you out the books so you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on books.

You don't have to worry about all that other stuff - like trying to work everything out with your schedule so classes don't overlap. The program's all set up so you can just go through and get it done, and get on with your career.

What would you say to someone who's thinking about going to school but hasn't yet.
You can't look at the debt you may have afterward. After you do go through the process and graduate, you'll be making the money to pay it off. I already got a new job since I've graduated, which pays even more than the one that I got through the school while I was there.