Accounting alumna transitions to faculty lecturer
Alumna and accounting lecturer Laura Self (’08 MACC) took a “leap of faith” when she transitioned from a public accounting audit manager to Moore School lecturer several years ago.
Having worked for the Elliott Davis accounting firm for eight years, Self was first hired as an audit staffer and was later promoted to audit senior and audit manager. She made the decision to leave Elliott Davis to teach full time at the Moore School so she could combine her passions.
“I love that I get to combine the technical knowledge of accounting with my love for people,” she said. “At my core, I am an accounting nerd, and I love seeing that spark for accounting come alive in my students.”
With Elliott Davis, Self helped with recruiting new interns and staff and teaching continuing education to existing staff — those are skills that have served her well in her role as a faculty member.
“I am so thankful for the opportunity to be in a job I love and to see that I am making a difference for my students,” she added.
While Self is enjoying her teaching role at the Moore School, she is also an involved alumna.
“My [MACC] graduate degree from the Moore School gave me so many skills that carried over into my career, and a big part of that was the exposure to accounting professionals in addition to my wonderful professors,” she said. “The Moore School staff in both the Office of Alumni Engagement and the Office of Career Management do such an incredible job of developing relationships for the benefit of our students, so I feel honored that I get to be a small part of that process.”
Self has been on the committee for the Shuck and Shag annual alumni event for the past three years.
While she touts the faculty in the Moore School, Self said “active and engaged alums enrich the school experience greatly in a way that professors alone cannot do. I also think that, as an alum, if you stay active with your alma mater, you get the first pick of the best students to hire.”
Self relishes hearing of her previous students’ successes in their careers. She encourages alumni to reach out to faculty who impacted their professional trajectories.