A Well-Rounded Experience: Donors Make the College Years Count for Future CPA

Jacob Curtis ’22 says scholarship support has allowed him to immerse himself fully in the UVM experience, from going the extra mile in his coursework to broadening his interests through extracurricular activities. The senior business administration major from Windsor, Vermont, believes the hands-on education he’s receiving inside and outside the classroom at the Grossman School of Business is helping build skills that he will use well beyond graduation.

In his first three years at UVM, he had the opportunity to take part in four competitions in which teams of students compete to develop the best solution to a pressing business problem (known as a “case competition”). His team placed second out of 13 teams at the 8th Annual Free Enterprise Marathon at SUNY Plattsburgh, taking home a cash prize of $1,200.

“We got this huge check that we were able to hold up as a team. And we were able to talk to the operations officer and the VP of sales from the company we were pitching. Having that experience was really meaningful. It was just another real-world interaction that I didn’t expect to have before coming to UVM.”

Curtis has also appreciated the opportunity to give back to his classmates and effect change on campus as a member of the Grossman School’s Student Advisory Committee. He shares his affection for UVM with future Catamounts as an AdvoCat tour guide during the school year and even finds time to mount a broomstick as part of UVM’s Quidditch Club team.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have all of these experiences, and I still have more to come.”

Curtis, who hopes to make a career as a CPA, says he was lucky to land an internship last summer at the South Burlington accounting firm Gallagher, Flynn & Company, LLC. After he completes his undergraduate degree, he plans to continue at UVM in the Grossman School’s highly regarded Master of Accountancy program, another step he may not have been able to take if not for donors’ generosity.

“The scholarships I’ve received take such a burden off of me and my family,” he said. “I am deeply thankful for the contributions; they embody what the UVM community is all about.”