Anita Karapetyan: Accounting for Civic Engagement
For Anita Karapetyan, accounting is a calling, but not only because it reinforces her affinity for numbers. While precision and attention to detail are the foundation for most accountants, Anita also has a “big picture” dynamic going on.
In the classroom, it’s Auditing, Taxation, Intermediate Accounting and much more. But life beyond the ledger has proven every bit as engaging. Aside from acquiring technical skills while studying, during her time at Woodbury, Anita has also honed and expanded her soft skills, which, as she says, “is immensely important to transfer into the workplace.”
A transfer student, Anita says Woodbury’s small class sizes, convenient location, and “family-oriented environment” all won her over. She recalls participating in a civic engagement activity where the initial assignment involved working within a group to determine how to help the community in some way. “I remember the excitement when my group mates and I volunteered at the L.A. Food Bank,” she says. “Experiences like these make you truly realize the importance of giving back.”
For Anita, “giving back” became a regular occurrence. To fulfill her internship requirement, she participated in VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, which Woodbury created as way for students to provide tax services to low-income individuals and families. “I was first involved in the program as an intern,” she says. “The following year, I was one of the site coordinators.”
In short order, she was all in, recruiting volunteers, training those volunteers, scheduling clients, quality reviewing and transmitting returns, addressing rejected returns. “These responsibilities gave me the opportunity to expand my communication and leadership skills,” she says. “The VITA service contributed to my personal and professional development as a student. It has become as valuable to students as it is to the clients we serve.”
Schoolwork aside – at least for brief periods – Anita immersed herself in a host of organizations and activities, beginning her first semester. “Woodbury’s small environment makes it incredibly rewarding to engage in campus activities — you can really make a difference and be heard,” she says. Starting in Accounting Society as a marketing chair, Anita moved up to treasurer by second semester and became president of the organization during her third semester.
Accounting Society has played a substantial role in my success at Woodbury,” she says. “The organization provided the opportunity to satisfy a common goal among Accounting students, which is to both foster self-development and network with business professionals. We established some important goals during the academic year while planning/implementing semester schedules and other activities as well.”
Outside of Accounting Society, Anita is a mainstay of Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization and the Armenian Student Association.
Then again, given Anita’s unbridled enthusiasm, it figures.