And so it begins.

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008, was a very long day. I don't remember everything that happened, but I left my house around 8:30am and didn't get home until shortly after midnight. My landlady left some mail in front of my door and I took a deep breath as I picked up the thicker-than-a-rejection-letter-would-be envelope. A friend of mine, Hilary Hoffman, had received her acceptance letter earlier that day and I did not anticipate the same speedy response as she got (she lives on campus). Cautiously I broke the seal and removed the contents. A flyer for a "Biz-B-Q" fell out and I unfolded the papers.

"Dear Ms. Nguyen:
I am delighted to offer you admission to the Michael G. Foster School of Business for autumn 2008."

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and gratitude and notified as many friends and family members as possible. At my friend's wedding this weekend, people kept congratulating me on my entrance to the Business School. It's still a little surreal that I actually got accepted.

Anyway, I thought I should post my admissions essay, because it shows the heart of why I want to be an Accountant. The numbers correspond to the prompt sections I addressed:
1. Describe any personal or economic hardships or barriers you've had to overcome and explain how they affected your education. Be specific about when you encountered these hardships and how long they lasted.
3. Write about any experience you've had that demonstrates your leadership skills. Examples could be taken from: employment, community service, student organizations, or similar situations. Be specific about when you had these experience(s) and how long they lasted.

See below and enjoy! =)

1. Events in the summer of 2007 changed my life in more ways than I could have imagined; I spent three months living and working for SAMBICA, a Christian camp in Bellevue, and the last month of my summer in South Africa working at an orphanage for children affected by HIV/AIDS. This orphan village allows children who have suffered from malnutrition, abuse, loneliness, and epidemic infections to have lives filled with hope, joy, and redemption. Through my relationships with these kids my heart was broken and sobered by the solemnity and severity of HIV and AIDS in Africa. Immediately after returning to the U.S., I started the process of moving out on my own for the first time. However, my father took an emergency trip to Vietnam to visit his dying sister, so I did not “officially” move out until after autumn quarter started. Instead, I stayed home to help my stepmother take care of my 6-year-old brother.

On my last day at the orphan village in South Africa Sinethemba, a ten-year-old HIV-positive boy who had absolutely won my heart, was home sick. He had recently visited the dentist and came back with a fever and headache. For a couple weeks during my time in South Africa I had played the role of resident nurse, so I took care of him, even though I had no medical background. I did not know if he was having an allergic reaction to medicine or if HIV could affect his health or immune system before it turned into AIDS. The night before I left, he wrote me a letter thanking me and telling me that he would miss me and he loved me very much. The day I said my last goodbye he had been crying; it broke my heart to leave him. As I rubbed his back, neck, and head, I told him I love him and would miss him. With one last hug and kiss goodbye I walked out the door. My last glimpse of him was an ailing, limp, sobbing little boy.

The plane ride back to America gave me some time for deep reflection. I played with the idea of returning to the orphan village and longed to build deeper relationships with all the wonderful children there. As I thought back to my last moments with Sinethemba it hit me: What if when I go back, he is not there? What if AIDS takes over his body and instead of a laughing, Kung Fu-loving kid there is a gravestone? What about HIV-positive toddler Kwanele and his AIDS-infected mother? Would they still be around? What about the rest of the children?

The emotional, mental, and spiritual implications of my first summer away from home, coming back from an impoverished country where HIV-positive individuals impacted my soul, and learning to live and work on my own took a toll on my studies. I had very little time to process the events and experiences of the previous four months, as I had been jumping immediately from one intense activity to another. The testimonies of the children and caretakers at the orphanage echoed in my mind throughout the day. Some nights I could not sleep, wondering how the children who had seen their own mother raped could still laugh and play and live fulfilled lives. At the same time, I was enrolled in my first Accounting class ever, though I have been ardently anticipating a career in Accounting since my sophomore year in high school. I loved the material and felt that I understood it, but my exam scores said otherwise. This was quite discouraging, sometimes even confusing, and I feared my dream of helping my community with accounting skills would never come true.

During winter break I had some time to ponder the last several months. I was torn between dropping everything so as to devote my life to helping these kids in Africa or continuing with school to help people on a less socially “visible” level. I concluded that finishing school would better equip me for this than quitting my studies. After a rough, trying first quarter of the year I was determined to succeed in next ten weeks. I allocated my time in a much wiser manner and spent a greater quantity and quality of my efforts on school than I previously had. I resigned from three of the four job positions I held in the autumn and now work close to home as a nanny. I revisited Bill Wells, my Financial Accounting professor, and went through my final exam with him to see how I could improve and learn from my lower-than-hoped-for grade. I started to apply what I learned in Financial Accounting by starting a journal ledger with T-accounts to maintain an accounting record for travel plans in summer of 2009. Professor Wells kindly offered to teach me how to keep my books in order with Excel. Last quarter I enjoyed my classes and learned more than I ever have in three months. Working to earn enough income to support myself and learning to budget my time, energy, and resources has taught me much about responsibility and has also given me a deeper appreciation of the many years of support that my parents have provided for me.

I have absolutely loved my Accounting classes and professors, but this has not been reflected in my grades. The reason I did not do well in Accounting was rooted in the same concern that drives me to become a non-profit accountant; that is, seeing children face tragedy and death. My grades do not show my enthusiasm for children, social justice, bookkeeping, and solving accounting issues like those featured in the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ xAct (Extreme Accounting) Competition that I placed 3^rd at UW in. They do not show my desire to fully understand Accounting and other business concepts in an out-of-classroom manner. I want to study accounting to help others like local businesses, under-privileged neighbors, and African orphans. There are more to classes than grades; I take classes because I desire to take them, not simply because I must. I interact with both instructors and fellow students by engaging in discussions about the principles behind what is being presented. Now that I have had time to process most of what I experienced this summer I know, with certainty, what I want to do with my life. I have felt the helplessness of watching innocent children suffer and I want to be part of something that will bring them hope. While my grade point average may not have increased in the past year, my passion and devotion persevere.

3. The term “leadership skills” used to make me think only of formal leadership positions, such as the Vice Presidency and Presidency status I held in my high school’s Key Club or the multi-level manager roles I played in the student store throughout my high school career. I thought these skills could only be obtained and practiced through a formal title. When I entered college at the UW, sans leadership positions or commitments, I did so for the purpose of learning how to live life without trying to lead anyone. I have learned, however, that leading people is engrained in my system and I have taken many informal leadership roles in class and in my volunteer work since my freshman year. This summer I was the youngest member of the Leadership Staff at SAMBICA; I co-ran a kitchen that fed upwards of 500 people and trained, delegated to, and mentored five staff members. Last quarter I stepped up as the semi-weekly Pre-School Room Lead in my church’s childcare program and am pursing training as a regular Pre-school teacher.

I love to volunteer and my motivation to work hard, help others, and bring pride to whoever I am working for is not rooted in a desire for financial prosperity. It is rooted in a genuine longing to assist those in need. With the many tools the UW provides, I hope to use my degree to serve those who cannot afford a qualified accountant or financial advice. Specifically, my greatest and deepest hope is to work as a non-profit accountant for a firm that seeks to bring refuge to African orphans who have been tragically affected by HIV/AIDS. I have seen this refuge in action and want to support and be a part of something that will continue this redemption in Africa. My passion and initiative to work hard for a worthy cause dictates my behavior and attitudes – inside the classroom and out. There is a dire need for qualified accountants in not-for-profit organizations and I believe the Michael G. Foster School of Business will thoroughly equip me for a non-profit accounting career.

-Jessica Nguyen, Accounting/Finance, Foster School of Business, University of Washington Class of 2010