Abigail Macias: Failing Is a Part of Success

My family are accountants—nearly every single one of them—so I never considered accounting as a career. My dream was to major not in the field that everyone thought I should go into, but in one that I was interested in: a bachelor's degree in chemistry and then medical school.

 That goal was short lived, and it took one three-hour chemistry lab to show me that chemistry was not the major for me. After this realization, I was devastated and felt as though my dreams were crumbling around me. However, I finished my Associates of Science degree and continued with my plan of transferring to Lander University.

 After accepting that I needed to refocus my goals, I started looking into different majors. I confided in one of my family members, and he lightly suggested it was time to stop running and give accounting a try. I practically scoffed at the idea. The whole reason I had gone into chemistry was to avoid accounting. Why would I want to give it a try now?

 As the time passed, I knew I had to decide, and I finally gave in. I set up a time to shadow one of my relatives at the firm they worked for. She introduced me to her coworkers and, without sugar-coating, explained her job and its daily tasks. One of her coworkers came in and joked that I must be bored to death watching my aunt fill out tax forms and handle client affairs. I realized that not once had I felt bored the entire time I was there. I had been enjoying my time and was intrigued with how everything connected like a big puzzle.

 After that experience, I figured I would give accounting a shot because I clearly had some interest in the subject. I thrived in my first class, but I was still skeptical because of my previous experience. I had initially enjoyed my first couple of chemistry classes too, so what would make accounting any different?

 In the spring, I had the opportunity to join a CPA firm in Greenville. At first, I was given beginner tasks of scanning and filing different client information. Gradually, I moved to more advanced work such as preparing accounting forms, trial balances, and preparing tax returns. A couple of months in, I noticed how happy I was in the environment and how much I enjoyed the work. At my previous jobs, I had viewed the work as more of a chore and not something I was actually passionate about. However, instead of feeling dread about working the nine hours, I was excited to see what new tasks the day would bring.

 One day, while I was interning, an accountant brought me a large stack of papers and told me to clear my schedule for the day. He explained that the papers corresponded with a client’s budget and that my job was to go through and balance the debits and credits. He emphasized that it would be a “tedious task” because if I entered a wrong number, it would ruin the entire job, and I would have to start over. The accountant apologized and acknowledged that it probably wasn’t the most exciting project, but it was a crucial step in making the balance sheet. It ended up taking all day like he thought it would, but I was just thrilled to be actively engaging in a project that I had learned so much about in my accounting classes at Lander. Instead of taking away that it was a boring task, I went home that afternoon and could not stop talking about how much fun I had applying my accounting knowledge.

 When I applied for my internship, I assumed I would learn a couple of new skills and refine some old ones, but overall, I wasn’t expecting my outlook on accounting to really change. However, instead of questioning whether I made the right decision for my future, my internship calmed my fears and reassured me that I made the right choice. The internship allowed me to get firsthand experience in the accounting profession, which helped me apply what I had learned in the classroom to different real-life situations. By doing so, I was able to test out the job and become confident that accounting was the right direction for me.

 Sometimes I wonder if I would still be questioning if accounting was the right career for me had I not taken the opportunity to work as an accounting intern. Maxime Lagace once said, “Confidence comes from experience. Experience comes from trying and failing and trying again.” I had given a chemistry major a chance and found that it wasn’t the path for me. This “failure” or change of plans led me to test out accounting even though I had said time and time again that I would never pursue that field. Looking back, I am grateful that I tried chemistry and that it did not work out because it brought me to where I am meant to be. At the end of the day, this experience is my reminder to never say never because it may lead to missed opportunities.

 Abigail Macias is a senior accounting major from Greenville, SC. During the 2021 tax season, she completed an accounting internship at Stokes & Company, CPAs. She will graduate in December 2022 and plans to get her CPA license and continue working with taxes.