Covid-19 Student Perspectives

Jimmy Tang

The shift caused by the pandemic provided me with an insightful experience. Both firms and universities found creative and flexible solutions to meet the needs of everyone. Serving as the President of Beta Alpha Psi gave me the opportunity to hear conversations between firms and students about what the future might look like. I remember during one of our meetings, KPMG hosted a poll to see how students felt about the future work environment. It surprised me to see that, like myself, many students were excited for a return to in-person especially for upcoming internships. Some of the reasons they cited included opportunities to network naturally as well as a more engaged learning experience. My role also gave me plenty of opportunities to hear from my peers at a more personal level. In one of these conversations, a peer shared with me that she was planning on turning down an internship offer with PwC since her spouse was currently based in a different location. I was ecstatic to share that I’d recently heard PwC was now offering fully remote work opportunities which included interns. It was then great to see the look of relief on her face and amazing to see how the world was changing. This was one of many moments where I realized the lasting

Jillian Rosenkranz

While in my second semester of being in the accounting program, the University of Missouri moved to a remote learning setting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anyone who’s been through the Accountancy program at the University knows that the first year is definitely the most difficult. So adjusting to the rigor of the Accountancy program on top of adjusting to unknowns brought on with online learning and the pandemic was not an easy task. However, the School of Accountancy made the situation as seamless as possible. Teachers were extremely accommodating on deadlines, class situations, family situations and tried to make remote learning as easy as possible. I was extremely thankful for the flexibility shown by the School of Accountancy professors during this time. I can confidently say that now going through the CPA exam process, I still felt benefits and changes that the pandemic was going to leave on both the professional and academic world. I’m excited to see how the world continues to evolve as we work through this changing environment.

Justin Burks

The initial completely online format the University of Missouri switched to was difficult to handle. I no longer had a daily routine that was enforced by live lectures and classrooms, so I had to enforce it myself. It felt overwhelming at times. When the 2020-2021 school year started, I was able to carve out time to take my asynchronous classes like I would in the time before the pandemic by setting up at a desk, turning on my camera, and participating in class. I also took better control of my physical and mental health while either in lockdown or quarantine. A few amazing teachers held synchronous or in-person classes when they were able to. This was a great for not only keeping students on track with their studies, but I think it helped a lot of students mentally when dealing with this pandemic. It made things feel normal, and I, along with other students, appreciate the teachers who were able to adapt so quickly and effectively.

like I was extremely familiar with the material that I learned during my online semester. Even during the unusual times that we were all experiencing, the professors made it easy to learn and connect with other students.

During this same time, I was going through the internship interview process with many firms. I can also echo the same type of accommodations were made for us to make the transition as easy as possible. An imperative part of the interview process is getting to know the people that work at the firms and building relationships with potential future coworkers. The firms made sure to put on many virtual events that had networking built in each month to connect us all. I found these events to be something I was looking forward to each month to take a mental break from my classwork. Despite going through the process virtually, I still feel like I was able to develop strong relationships with my coworkers through internships and the interview processes.