By: Jeremy Jacobs
Last summer I had the honor of being selected to attend the first annual Student Leadership Institute of North Carolina (SLINC), hosted by North Carolina Association of CPA’s at Wake Forest University. Only 50 students throughout the state were selected to attend this inaugural event, which would prove to be an amazing weekend filled with leadership events and networking opportunities. This past fall, I wrote a detailed account of my experience at SLINC and what the weekend meant to me; it was published in the third quarter edition of the 2013 Interim Report. As a follow up to that, I was approached to write a blog summarizing some of the great opportunities I have had within the organization since last summer.
In the weeks following SLINC, I received a phone call from NCACPA’s Cape Fear Chapter asking if I would be interested in joining its Board. I immediately jumped at the chance to get more involved with the organization and accepted. Shortly after, I volunteered for the CPA Day of Service, a day in September that is dedicated to helping out in the community, serving those in need. I had the privilege of working the breakfast line at the Good Shepard in Wilmington, a place at which I hope to be able to volunteer again this year.
Over the past couple of months I have worked with members of the UNCW faculty, members of NCACPA’s Cape Fear Board, and the rest of the association to combine our student night with Beta Alpha Psi’s spring social event. The event, which took place in February, was a great success with over 60 students and professionals taking part in the event. The following morning I headed to the AICPA office in Raleigh to take part in a roundtable discussion on the “Future of Learning.” This initiative is working to gain perspective on how education and the workplace will look in the year 2025, and how as a profession we can stay relevant. Beginning this May, I will begin a one-year term as one of two student liaisons to the Young CPA Cabinet.
The best advice I can pass along to fellow students is to get involved! NCACPA is a great organization that cares about the profession, its members, and the communities in which it operates. I have had the chance to meet some great people and be a part of amazing programs. It all started with submitting an application to an event I had never heard of, hosted by an organization I knew very little about. Even if SLINC is not a possibility at this time, I would strongly consider visiting the website and finding ways you can get involved.
Don’t forget to apply to the 2014 Student Leadership Institute of NC! Application deadline is Friday, March 21.
Jeremy Jacobs is former Chef from New York and currently the Service Manager for Carolina Coast Harley-Davidson in Wilmington, NC. A senior at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Jeremy will begin the MSA program in the fall. He an associate member of the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCACPA), serves on the board for the Cape Fear chapter and will begin a one year term as student liaison to the Young CPA cabinet in May. Recently Jeremy was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma and is currently the treasurer / V.P. of socials and services for the Iota Alpha chapter of Beta Alpha Psi. With the start of the MSA program in the fall he will assume the position of president of the chapter.