Meet Julie Ngendo
This semester Julie Ngendo began a new chapter at ETSU as a graduate student in the Master of Accountancy (M.Acc.) program. Continuing her education immediately after receiving a bachelor’s degree at Lee University was not her original plan, but as the pandemic’s impact became more evident, Julie found herself searching for graduate programs much sooner and in a shorter time frame than she anticipated. A native of Nairobi, Kenya, Julie says ETSU is the perfect fit and has allowed her to embrace and advance her talents in taxation as she prepares to take the CPA exam, gains experience completing tax returns as a volunteer with the VITA Program, and tutors undergraduate students following in her footsteps. While tax preparation may seem daunting and complex to many, Julie insists that the profession offers her the unique opportunity to hear the stories of her clients and make a positive impact through their finances.
What led you to ETSU?
Around March of 2020 is when I realized that COVID-19 was going to be a huge thing and so at that time I started to regroup and think about what I wanted to do after I graduate. By May 2020 I knew I was going to be graduating in December and that was not a very large time frame for me to look at different schools. I wasn’t able to visit schools because of the pandemic, but I decided to look into ETSU because I had been to Johnson City before and have friends who live here. ETSU is a beautiful campus, and I have a thing for beautiful campuses – it’s one of my decision-makers when going to a school. I looked it up and the deadline to apply was within good time for me. I took my GMAT and applied and here I am today.
ETSU’s College of Business and Technology offers several accounting concentrations – why did you choose taxation?
As I was taking my undergraduate classes I found that I had a natural gift toward taxation. It made sense to me. When I went to class and read through tax code it made sense to me. I felt like really and truly this is what I am meant to do. I decided on a master’s of accountancy in taxation, and incidentally, ETSU was one of the few schools that I found that had the concentration available for me and I could start in the spring.
When did you realize accounting and specifically taxation was the perfect fit for you?
When I tell people that I’m doing a master’s in accounting in taxation, they want to give me a hug. They think it’s going to be the worst experience ever, but for me taxation is my way to remain in my cubicle because I am an introvert, but still be able to interact and impact people’s lives. When I’m doing somebody’s tax return, I get to hear their story. Taxes are really close to the person. When someone is getting divorced, it affects their taxes; when someone gets married, it affects their taxes; when someone is in school and paying tuition, it affects their taxes. I get to impact them by removing the stress of doing taxes, which is something I really enjoy doing.
For most of my life I have not been good at math and it was solidified in high school when I started learning calculus and other complex math concepts. I truly believed I was not good at math, but once I finished high school and began looking at careers, I realized I like math, I just wasn’t good at it at the time. I took a leap of faith and decided to go for the thing I love, but I’m not good at. I talked to my parents and they told me to go for it, and so I signed up for Accounting. When I took my first class, it came naturally and I understood it. I was able to overcome the notion that I wasn’t good at math because I took a leap of faith and put the work in to learn it!
What do you enjoy most about being a graduate assistant?
When I came to ETSU and had the opportunity to be a graduate assistant for Dr. Lana Becker. She gave me the opportunity to tutor her students. I thoroughly enjoy that because it gives me the opportunity to invest in people. So many times in our business degrees, we learn how to invest in stocks and account for money, but it’s a totally different thing to be able to invest in people and other students. That’s what I truly enjoy.
Students have been taking most if not all of their classes online for almost a year. What have you learned from the experience?
Taking classes online has been a challenge, but it has been an opportunity to learn to be disciplined. There’s no professor in front of me telling me to complete homework. I have my work online and I have to listen to lectures online and that forces me to be disciplined in how I manage my time. I stay positive by counting the small wins. If I set out to complete two exercises of my taxation homework and I get it done today, then yay – I’m doing great!
What are your career goals?
I chose to be an accountant because I really enjoy the concept of stewardship and I want to contribute to being a good steward of the resources we manage. My career goals didn’t change because of the pandemic, just the process of getting there changed. I eventually want to be a tax attorney and concentrating in taxation in the M.Acc. program is allowing me to get used to working with tax code. I’m working toward taking my CPA exam and plan to work for a while before going to law school.
What are your hobbies and how do you connect with other student at ETSU?
I really enjoy singing. It’s the other side of me! I am the tax accountant who sits there and focuses on her code every day, but I also enjoy singing and listening to music. I enjoy fellowship with other students by attending Bible study at The Well. I also enjoy the opportunity that I have to attend one in-person class this semester.
Tell us about your experience as a tax preparer for the VITA Program.
The VITA Program has been an amazing opportunity for me to interact with people and hear their stories. We complete income taxes for people in the community free of charge. This year looks differently, obviously, so we have our clients stay in their car and someone comes to their car to collect all their tax information that is then taken inside to the preparers. We look through the information and write down whatever questions we have and we call them to have a conversation about their tax return for the year. While there’s not that physical interaction, there is still an opportunity to speak to them and then walk the completed return to them and let them know if they can expect a refund or how they can set up a payment plan for tax liability.