A Day in the Life of an Applied Accounting and Finance Student at Fordham

Fordham's Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill has tons of opportunities for students of all schools and majors. From internships, to clubs, to case competitions, to networking events, there is something for everyone at the Gabelli School. I have taken advantage of many of the Gabelli School's opportunities over my last few years here, and I am continuing to do so now as a senior. In this blog, I will be discussing my experience as an Applied Accounting and Finance major at Fordham. 

Fordham's Beta Alpha Psi students volunteering with KPMG professionals

Majoring in Applied Accounting and Finance at Fordham has been an amazing experience, and has been filled with so many amazing opportunities! I am a part of Fordham's chapter of Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) an honor society for accounting and finance majors. In this society, students have the opportunity to network with professionals from Big Four accounting firms, mid sized accounting firms, banks, and other commercial companies. As a part of our membership, students in Beta Alpha Psi also have the opportunity to participate in fulfilling community service events. My favorite BAP community service event was an event sponsored by KPMG's Family for Literacy last semester. Fordham students went to a public school in Manhattan, and read books to students. The event was a great way for Fordham students to collaborate with accounting professionals while giving back to our community. 

Majoring in Applied Accounting and Finance at 

Fordham has opened the door to so many awesome 

career opportunities! Here's a great picture of me 

at KPMG's National Intern Training in Orlando, FL

Fordham is a great school for accounting majors who want the opportunity to intern and work for large or mid sized accounting firms. Due to Fordham's proximity to Manhattan, many business students can easily intern or work at the firms during the school year or over the summer. Another one of my fantastic experiences while attending the Gabelli School was interning at KPMG for the past two summers. Last May, I also attended one of KPMG's leadership conferences with a select group of students from universities across the country. Next summer, I will return to KPMG to intern in the Audit practice in Manhattan. I am so happy that I chose to attend a school that has allowed me to become involved with so many amazing opportunities related to my major. 

Me at my amazing summer internship 

at KPMG's Montvale, NJ office!

Being an Applied Accounting and Finance student at Fordham has been exciting, challenging, and rewarding. The Gabelli School's extensive academic curriculum combined with amazing opportunities to intern and network with firms has transformed me into a well-rounded, passionate young professional. If you are a prospective student interested in a career in accounting or finance, Fordham will definitely offer you the tools and opportunities to be successful. 

Dodransbicentennial: A New Beginning for 1,192 Rams

This week marked a major milestone for the Fordham Family, not only for the 1,192 new students entering the class of 2020, but also as the University celebrated it's 175th birthday.

Yesterday marked 175 years to the date that Archbishop John Hughes (Dagger John) ushered in six students as the first class of St. John's College in the village of Fordham, Westchester County, New York. Since then a world of change has gone on in and around what was then just a small college eight miles north of New York City; from the city's own expansion in taking over the lower part of Westchester County, what we now know as The Bronx, to the group of Jesuits in Kentucky taking over St. John's College and transforming it into the world-renowned institution of higher education we now know as Fordham University, The Jesuit University of New York.

Father McShane entrusts six freshmen with the
Dodransbicentennial Banner

The Dodransbicentennial year gives Fordham more to be proud of than ever. Not only did the University welcome in it's most talented undergraduate class in history, but the accomplishments of Fordham students past present and future have given these new students something special to be extra proud of: joining in unity with a university known worldwide for creating intelligent, hardworking, and compassionate graduates who strive to leave the world and Fordham a better place than how they found it.

To celebrate the Dodransbicentennial, more than the usual festivities were in store for the class of 2020, who President Father Joseph McShane, S.J. dubbed as a "visionary" group of young minds. At the opening mass on Sunday when new students moved into their residence halls and kicked off orientation, Father McShane selected six new students and entrusted them with their class banner, a new tradition each graduating class from 2017 and on will carry from convocation to commencement, as well as the university's dodransbicentennial banner, which will be passed to the class of 2017 at the close of the dodransbicentennial year at commencement. And of course Father McShane ended this mass as he always does with students, by welcoming them "home" to Fordham.

Ally, FCRH '20 with her Orientation Leader and past
Ambassador/Tour Guide Teresa, FCRH '17

Apart from the dodransbicentennial festivities, Fordham welcomed in the class of 2020 in style as usual. New Student Orientation volunteers rolled out the maroon carpet for 1,192 freshmen and didn't allow them to lift a finger - more than 200 volunteers at both campuses unloaded cars, U-haul trailers and SUV's for the incoming class and moved all of their belongings into their dorm rooms - a tradition that has been centric to welcoming students to Fordham for years. This was followed by the yearly candle-lighting on the first night, encouraging the newest generation of the Fordham Family to live by the Jesuit values our university is grounded in, and to follow the words of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, to "Go forth and set the world on fire."

Now orientation has finally come to a close, and classes have begun at all 3 undergraduate colleges. These bright new students joining the university will only propel Fordham further upward from where we began 175 years ago, and on behalf the student admission ambassadors in Rose Hill Society and our counterparts in the Lincoln Center Society, welcome home.

Volunteer Opportunities

About 80% of Fordham University undergraduates 

participate in at least one service project.

This is an awesome percentage and one of the statistics that made me give Fordham a closer look, since I knew in high school that I wanted service to be part of my college experience. I spent my freshman year getting my feet wet on campus. I tried a bunch of different clubs (some of which were service-oriented), was heavily involved in the Manresa community, and did some outside volunteer work as well. Through an email blast from Fordham's Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice, I found out about a Saturday morning tutoring program at a middle school located near Yankee Stadium. While some of my friends gawked at me for waking up at 8am a few Saturdays each semester, I loved it. Working with those kids to solve their science and math questions or improve their reading proficiency made me feel connected to my new home and made me care about the goings-on of the Bronx. 

This year, as a sophomore, I began volunteering at St. Rita's Center for Immigration and Refugee Services. On Wednesday and Thursday mornings, I teach a two-hour class to adult immigrants trying to learn English. I found out about St. Rita's through the Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice's annual Volunteer and Internship Fair. Local organizations and programs line Edward's Parade, welcoming all students to consider volunteering with their group for whatever time commitment they could. I was drawn to St. Rita's because I am especially curious about the immigrant's experience in the United States and I thought that gaining some experience teaching would help me in my career discernment process. While I have always enjoyed service and volunteer work, nothing could have prepared me for the incredible joy I get from consistently working with my students at St. Rita's. 

The DDCSJ provides all the resources a Fordham student needs to get involved in the Bronx community. By volunteering, students can become a tangible part of the community, instead of just being a visitor for four years as they get their degree. One great opportunity offered by the DDCSJ is the Service Learning Program, where students can connect volunteer work with a class and receive credit. Taking a Service Learning class is on my Fordham bucket list, and I hope to take one next fall.

If you think you might be interested in doing service and volunteer work during college, becoming acquainted with your prospective schools' programs and resources is crucial! Check out the site for the Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice here!

"We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community." 

~ Dorothy Day

My Birthday Weekend at Fordham!

Fordham's New York City location is ideal for academia, internships, and jobs, but going to college in New York is also perfect for celebrations! Whether you're in Manhattan or the Bronx, Fordham is a great place to gather friends and family for special occasions. This weekend, I celebrated my birthday at Fordham and in Manhattan with my friends and family. 

On Saturday, my friends and I took the D-train from Fordham's Rose Hill campus down to Manhattan's Lower East Side for a lovely birthday dinner. Getting to Manhattan from the Bronx is very convenient, which makes it easy for my friends and I to leave campus for work and for fun! My friends and I had so much fun at the restaurant, and I was happy that everyone had fun at my birthday dinner. The friendships I have made during college are amazing, and I am so happy that Fordham connected me with such wonderful people.  

My friends and I had so much fun celebrating my birthday in Manhattan!

On Sunday, my birthday celebration continued closer to my home at Fordham's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. My family drove to campus from New Jersey, and we went out for a birthday lunch on Arthur Avenue, the Bronx's Little Italy. Arthur Avenue is right across the street from Fordham Rose Hill, and is home to many authentic restaurants, bakeries, and shops. Most of Arthur Avenue's restaurants are Italian, but my family decided to try something new and took me to a Mexican restaurant called Estrellita's. The food was delicious, and the restaurant was only 5 minutes from campus! 

My family and I at Estrellita's on Arthur Avenue

Fordham has given me so much over the last three years, and its endless opportunities for work and for fun never disappoint. Celebrating my birthday at Fordham again this year was a great reminder of how lucky and happy I am to attend such an amazing school with so much to see and do. I am so proud to be a Fordham Ram! 

My Peer Health Exchange Experience

Fall semester of my sophomore year at Fordham, I joined a national organization based out of Fordham, called Peer Health Exchange, or PHE. Originally, I had joined on behalf of a good friend, who relayed to me that they were short on recruitment. I did not expect to have such a rewarding experience with the program, nor to gain the knowledge and friendships I have made during my time with PHE. 

This is the whole national organization's goal!

Peer Health Exchange is a volunteer organization, which recruits, selects, and trains college students to teach in low-income, urban high schools. PHE believes that health education is critical to a high school student's experience, and partners with schools to provide or supplement their health education programs. The college student volunteers, or Health Educators (H.E.s), learn the curriculum to bring to the classrooms, and act as approachable and relatable mentors to the high school students. H.E.s teach four workshop units: Reflection, Communication & Advocacy, Accessing Resources, and Decision Making. These workshops, while giving students valuable knowledge, also empower them to make informed choices that can contribute to all areas of their lives. 

My PHE materials!

I have taught the Accessing Resources workshops for my entire PHE experience. Accessing Resources focuses on giving students the knowledge they need to find valid information on their own health questions, with an emphasis on sexual health. I have walked away from classrooms countless times feeling as if I had delivered to students information that they could benefit from. It has been so rewarding for me to see the students further question me about facts, and knowing that I gave them the knowledge and skills they can use to make choices that are right for them. 

I too, have benefitted from my time with PHE. Thanks to my training, I have become a more confident public speaker, and learned a lot about making healthy decisions that I did not know before. I have gotten involved with the Bronx community around Fordham, and established friendships within the Fordham community that I would have otherwise never made. I look forward to the remaining time I will spend with PHE, as it has become an incredibly significant part of my Fordham experience. 

Living on Campus as an Upperclassman

The thrill of living oncampus does die out after freshman year at Fordham. Upperclassman on-campus housing at Fordham allows for exciting new experiences and foreshadows the independence of impending adulthood.  Check out my view from the 12th floor of Walsh Hall!

As an incoming freshman, living on campus at Fordham means meeting new people in your hall, attending Res life sponsored activities, hanging out on Martyrs’ lawn, and all the excitements the coming with living on a college campus for the first time. As sophomore year approaches, these excitements tend to come to a simmer as the faces in your hall become more familiar and meeting up on Eddies is a part of your daily routine.

The housing options offered to upperclassman at Fordham promise to renew those freshman year feelings even for students who have been here for a few years. 

Finlay, O’Hare and Tierney Hall present their own diverse experiences that sophomore students tend to gravitate towards. Students who choose Finlay enjoy rooms complete with their own bathroom and not to mention a spiral staircase leading up to a private loft. O’Hare and Tierney appeal to many students because of the integrated learning communities these halls offer. All three halls still embrace a strong sense of community beneficial for second year students who may not know as many of their neighbors as they think.

 

A newly renovated kitchen in Walsh Hall

Campbell, Salice / Conley and Walsh (where I currently live as a junior) halls give upperclassman their own apartment style dorms while still having the convenience of living on campus. While Walsh Hall is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors alike, Campbell and Salice / Conley Hall are strictly junior and senior housing.

A Yankees Game Adventure

I’m a huge baseball fan and have spent most of my summers at the ballpark watching a game. So when CAB was offering $10 tickets to see the Yankees take on the Red Sox over at Yankee Stadium, I was absolutely thrilled.

Yankee Stadium

My friends and I were fortunate enough to win tickets to one of the two games CAB offered to see baseball’s most legendary rivalry. It was a cold, Friday night in early April. Since it was my first time at the new Yankee Stadium, we explored the ballpark and its upgraded amenities for a while before getting some food and taking our seats in the bleachers in the outfield. All Fordham students in attendance got FREE Yankees hats as well, which was a great treat.

The game was really exciting; in fact, there was a problem with the lights in the middle of the game, causing a fifteen-minute delay while the issue got resolved, and the game even went into extra innings – twenty innings in total compared to the typical nine. Unfortunately, my friends and I opted to leave around the thirteenth inning as the night was only getting later and colder, and, since it’s only about a fifteen-minute ride on the D train back to Fordham Road, it was easy getting back to campus. The Red Sox ended up winning, so it was probably better we didn’t stick around anyway.

Our view from the bleachers!

Though I am a big fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, it was a lot of fun getting to see two of baseball’s biggest team go head-to-head in a seemingly never-ending game. I have one more year left living in the Bronx, so I hope I get to attend more Yankees games in the future.

Enjoying the game!

Top 5 Reasons I find the Walsh Turnstile Super Convenient

Back in January the Walsh Gate was converted into a turnstile. This allows students 24 hour access to the gate. While 24 hour access to the Walsh entrance may not seem like a big change here are the Top 5 Reasons Why It Is Convenient:  

1. Dunkin' Donuts Access 24/7

Since Dunkin' Donuts is located a block down from the Walsh Gate Entrance, the new turnstile allows me to walk to and from Dunkin' Donuts safely. It also reduces the time it takes me to get there. I can now run across the street before my 8:30 class in JMH and grab a coffee without having to go around Finlay Hall. 

2. Easy Access for Off-Campus Students 

Students who live off campus are also very pleased with the new turnstile access as it allows them to easier access to campus. Now students have an extra five minutes in the morning before classes!  

3. Easier to Visit My Friends Off-Campus 

Some of my friends live in the apartments directly across from Walsh Gate. I can now visit them quickly anytime I want. 

4. Reduce time to get to Arthur Avenue 

Many students coming back from grabbing coffee or going food shopping down Arthur Avenue are glad that there is now 24 hour access to closer entrance. While it is not a huge deal to walk to Finlay Gate, it definitely saves some time. 

5. Lower Security Cost 

Having the gate open 24/7 is convenient for students. But, having a guard present 24/7 would be too costly. The turnstile is practical and still safe as there is another guard present right down the block and there are security cameras installed by the turnstile. 

New Walsh Gate Turnstile 

Fordham, Pizza, and Family

There are plenty of exciting things to see and do outside of Fordham's Rose Hill campus, including the Bronx Zoo, Botanical Gardens, and Manhattan. However, sometimes staying on Fordham's campus and enjoying its beautiful atmosphere can be just as enjoyable. This weekend, my mom and my two younger brothers came to visit me here at Fordham Rose Hill! Since it has been so cold here lately, we decided that going out for dinner would not be very comfortable. Luckily, Fordham has many authentic Italian, Chinese, and Mexican restaurants that deliver right to the residence halls on campus! After some deliberation, we finally decided to order pizza. 

One of my brothers was so excited about the pizza,
he took this picture and uploaded it to Snapchat!

We ordered two cheese pies from Pugsley's Pizza, a family owned Italian pizzeria located just outside Fordham's campus. When the pizza arrived, my younger brothers were astonished that the delivery came right to my residence hall! It was very convenient, and my family was happy that they did not have to go outside in the cold. We ate the pizza in my residence hall, and we had a great time laughing and catching up. I am so happy that my family loves to come to Fordham just as much as I do! 

Fordham has two amazing campuses that feel like home to its students. My family is very pleased that when I am not at home with them, I am just as happy at my home here at Rose Hill. Fordham has always been a very welcoming place for me, and I loved showing my family that here at Fordham, we are a "Ramily!"

Rose Hill or Lincoln Center: Why Not Both?

One of the major decisions all Fordham applicants must choose from is which campus they want to go to: the beautiful and iconic Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, or the happening, city campus smack in the middle of Manhattan. Now let's admit it- that's a really hard decision. That one check mark on Fordham’s application is bound to determine your college experience for the next four years…or will it?

City Life Lincoln Center Campus

Iconic Rose Hill Campus

While students do have to chose between which campus they want to live and primarily take classes, there are a multitude of resources and opportunities on both campuses that can be pursued by all students. I believe that this is one of the most overlooked perks of Fordham University. Not only can students from each campus take classes at the other campus, but the dining halls, facilities, libraries, and study spaces are available for everyone. Essentially everything on both campuses is at most only a Ram Van ride from students’ fingertips.

Perhaps the biggest of these perks is the ability for Fordham students to dorm on any Fordham campus during the summertime, given they take an academic Fordham summer course or have an internship. This gives students the flexibility (and affordability) to take classes or work in Manhattan during the summertime. Additionally, it gives students the opportunity for a change of scenery from their normal campus and dorms.

Just a normal summer day in Manhattan

I am a Rose Hill student but this past summer I took full advantage of this opportunity and lived in McMahon Hall at the Lincoln Center campus while I interned at an advertising agency downtown five days a week. Not only did Fordham housing alleviate a long, long commute from my house in Connecticut, but it also allowed me to explore New York City even more than I already do as a Rose Hill Student. I ran in Central Park almost every day, went to so many new restaurants, attended summer concerts, and made new friends with other students living in McMahon for the summer.

Dinner and a view from my LC apartment 

It is possible to get the best of both worlds from the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses; students just have to utilize all the resources and opportunities that they are given.  As for me, I love living in the Bronx during the year but plan to switch over to Lincoln Center again for the summer months (despite the sweaty subway rides).



For more information on summer housing with Fordham University, click here.