SSU accounting major finds a reason for everything within her degree

Tiffany Kiwabonga came to Shawnee State University planning to pursue a bachelor’s degree in accounting while looking for opportunities for connections on a smaller campus.

Coming from Ashland, Ky. where she completed two years at a community college, she found SSU to be the perfect fit for her.

“I’ve been able to get involved really easily with my classes and my professors,” she said. “It makes it all feel like home and that’s exactly what I was looking for.”

Finding comfort in getting lost in spreadsheets and numbers, Kiwabonga has been thankful for how her degree has helped her grow in her confidence in the subject.

“The tedious nature of accounting and how numbers all fit together is what makes me really like this work,” she said. “There’s a reason for everything.”

Throughout her classes, she completed an eight-month internship with an auditing firm, helping the organization administer audits for different businesses.

“It was really educational, and I even got to go on site once to meet the clients that we were working for,” she said. “Putting a face to the name was a great experience.”

Outside of her accounting major, Kiwabonga is also minoring in information security (cybersecurity). During her internship experience, she was able to see how these two different fields pair well together.

“Accounting deals with a lot of private information, so knowing how to protect that information makes my degree very valuable,” she said. “At my internship, I saw members of my team talk with their cybersecurity firm a lot. It opened my eyes to how my minor will really help my degree in my future.”

As Kiwabonga looks forward to graduation, she’s thankful for the connections she’s been able to build with faculty members like her adviser Barry Lucas.

“Barry definitely knows what he’s talking about,” she said with a laugh. “Being able to build a relationship with your advisor is so helpful. He’s actually the one that helped me get my internship.”

While the C.H. School of Business starts expanding its offerings and resources for students, Kiwabonga is excited to see how this can impact other students in her degree.

“It’s a great benefit that these students will be able to learn about the different aspects of business at SSU,” she said. “As the school expands, they’ll be able to find the exact degree they want here.”

To learn more about programs within the C.H. Lute School of Business at Shawnee State University, visit www.shawnee.edu/business.

This feature was originally released in the Shawnee Magazine 2022 issue. To view the full magazine online, visit www.shawnee.edu/magazine.