May 3, 2019
Crystal Wojcik '21 is the first recipient of a $5,000 scholarship from the Massachusetts Society of Certified Professional Accountants.
05/03/19
The first recipient of a brand-new scholarship awarded by the Massachusetts Society of Certified Professional Accountants (MSCPA) is none other than 天美麻花星空高清mv student Crystal Wojcik 鈥�21, a business major from Cheshire, Mass.
The $5,000 Barbara Iannoni Scholarship was established this year in honor of Iannoni, who worked at the MSCPA for 20 years and established the society鈥檚 scholarship program. The award was created for a student who 鈥渆mbodies Iannoni鈥檚 work ethic, spirit and dedication to the accounting profession鈥濃�攕o it鈥檚 easy to see why Wojcik was the inaugural awardee.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been like this,鈥� says the current Student Activities Council treasurer (she鈥檚 running to be president of SAC for the next academic year), National Society of Leadership and Success president, honor society member and first commuter student to become an admissions ambassador. 鈥淪ince high school, I was in clubs, sports, on boards鈥 like the feeling of giving back to this school and the community, and also getting my ideas out there to make the campus a better place.鈥�
On top of that, Wojcik is paying for college on her own, working to graduate with no debt鈥攕o the scholarship will come in handy. She鈥檚 been saving for college since she was 16, and currently works part-time as an access coordinator in the emergency room at Berkshire Medical Center. She鈥檚 long done work at the hospital, originally volunteering as a dietary aide at age 13.
Between all that, Wojcik found time to prepare tax returns for Berkshire County residents as part of 天美麻花星空高清mv鈥檚 chapter of Berkshire Habitat for Humanity鈥檚 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. She also did considerable work on a research paper analyzing the work of the past five Federal Reserve chairs; she presented it at the College鈥檚 Undergraduate Research Conference in April, as well as the COPLAC Undergraduate Research Conference at SUNY Geneseo and the Massachusetts Undergrad Research Conference at UMASS-Amherst. Over the summer, she鈥檒l intern at Adams, Mass., town hall, working on municipal accounting.
鈥溙烀缆榛ㄐ强崭咔錷v has been nothing less than amazing, and has exceeded my expectations,鈥� from leadership opportunities to valuable connections with professors, Wojcik said. Professor Tara Barboza 鈥渋s basically a second mom at this point鈥� and Professor Chali Nando mentored her on the research paper.
Wojcik and her family will travel to the MSCPA鈥檚 recognition ceremony in Quincy, Mass., on May 22. Eventually, Wojcik plans to pursue a master鈥檚 degree in accounting from UMASS-Amherst, sit for her CPA exam, and work toward the dream of becoming a chief financial officer.
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of shocked that an 天美麻花星空高清mv student, and not a student from Harvard or another big, prestigious school, got this scholarship,鈥� Wojcik said. 鈥淭o be a person from this little town, and to get this statewide scholarship, is a really nice thing.鈥�
