COREY URIE
MTax graduate '24 outstanding grad

WHY WEBER STATE?   

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Weber State was closest to home - I live in Layton, so the commute isn't too bad. Plus, there's lots of parking available at the Dee Events Center, and monetary-wise, it was the best option. But there were other reasons to choose Weber. I didn't do well with focusing in high school, so the only thing available to me to pay for college was student loans. WSU is good about being not just a quality education but an affordable education. So it worked well - it was just what I was looking for. And once I got here, I found that the staffing was great, so I kept with it. 

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WHY THE MASTER OF TAXATION?   

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When I was getting through my generals, I knew that I wanted to do something with business. When I did the entry-level courses, I was decent enough at math and I didn't hate accounting. So I thought, I'll just keep doing that. This blossomed into a true enjoyment of accounting. And when I had to take a look at a masters of accounting or taxation, I found I liked the one-on-one nature of taxation. I like meeting with people, being able to understand them and have that connection over the year. They come to you with various questions regarding whatever is going on in their lives, and you can connect with them. You might not get that level of connection in other levels of accounting. I still do all aspects of the profession - auditing, taxation, accounting...but tax is what I enjoy the most.

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EDUCATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS   

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I don't know if most people separate their perceptions between undergraduate and graduate, but I split my experiences into pre-and-post-COVID. Pre was where I was on-campus (the Ogden campus). In the morning I would stop by the Union building before I headed to work (I would typically have a bagel), and before I headed to work at the end of my classes I would stop and get something from one of the food trucks by the clock tower. But then post-COVID a lot of my courses were later at night, like from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m., or they were at the Davis campus for my Masters classes. So a lot of that was focused on the coursework, and it was less social. When you get to the masters-level courses, the classes are much smaller, so there is more camaraderie, and that was what I was looking for then. I enjoyed both aspects for what they were. Post-COVID it was focused on learning and chances for one-on-one and discussions with professors that were super helpful. I think that one of the professors for the taxation program, Ryan Pace, is a phenomenal teacher. If he could teach a course that everyone head to take, everyone would be better for it. He is hilarious and well-spoken, and a great teacher all-around. So, for me, those would be the highlights: Food, ability to talk with the professors as the courses got more difficult, and Ryan Pace's tax courses.

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FACULTY IMPACT   

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One of the professors I would point out would be Lisa Hopkins. In the first semester we had that was going on during COVID (Spring 2020), during the transition of everything, I broke a bit, and there were a couple of courses that were required for the accounting major in which I did not get a satisfactory grade. When I re-took the courses, one of them was Lisa Hopkins' accounting course (a 3000-level course). She gave no comment or indication that it was anything other than my first time taking that class, and it was really nice to feel like there was no judgement for falling short. It was amazing to me, and it meant a great deal to me. Another great professor was Darcie Costello. She has done a lot in terms of helping me feel confident that I know what I am doing. Even now there are days that I wonder if I know what I'm about and how I got here. But the guidance that Darcie has given has been phenomenal, and helped me to realize that I actually do have a grasp on the material and I know what I'm doing, and she has instilled confidence in me that I can do this.  

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ADVICE   

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Regardless of how things start, it is never too late. I finished my undergrad with barely above a 3.0 GPA - because that's what I needed to get acceptance to the masters program at WSU. Without that I don't know that I would have been able to get a masters degree. I wasn't a talkative person, I didn't have a lot of relationships with professors. It wasn't until a couple of semesters before I was done with my undergrad that I started to form relationships with people. Since then I've turned my mindset around and my grades around, and I have been able to maintain that momentum through my graduate career. Everyone's starting point is different...once you have figured out what it is you want to be working on, that's a perfect place to start. No one's starting point is the same.

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WHAT'S NEXT   

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The immediate is the upcoming tax season. In the near future I'm planning to start working on my CPA exams. There are 4 separate tests you have to take in order to obtain your CPA licensing. You also have to get your masters degree according to the State of Utah. I may not be going to WSU anymore, but that doesn't mean that studying and learning is over.

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