Accountancy students have won the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Awards for the last seven consecutive years, but this year, two students won the award for the first time. Tommy Bandedo is an accountancy and economics major, and Emma Gough is an accountancy and data analytics major.
Tommy Bandedo hails from Greenville, Ohio. He entered Miami with an interest in engineering, before pivoting to major in accountancy and economics. “I wanted to utilize more of my skills in a field that I believe I would enjoy.” With his love of crime TV shows and mystery novels, he soon found forensic accounting an excellent career path. Tommy has had experience working in his hometown bank during school breaks for the past three years.
Bandedo is an active member of the Accounting Association and a student assistant for CSE 148. “One of my life’s goals is to help others,” he shared, and he mentioned he’s keeping his eyes open for opportunities for community service.
A “people person,” his favorite part of campus life is meeting different types of people and the various clubs that Miami offers to help alleviate stress from exams and finals. “One of my favorite events is the “once in a lifetime” total eclipse this past academic year. It was a great way to step away from academics and be with others (even for a few minutes).”
Bandedo learned about the PCAOB scholarship from Professor Dale Stoel. With the financial assistance applied to tuition, he’s looking forward to using his extra funds for CPA exam study materials.
Emma Gough is from Canal Winchester, Ohio. Business-minded since she was a 9-year-old child dreaming of opening a bakery, she found accounting to be the perfect fit. “I chose Miami because of its highly-ranked business school, and with the experiences I’ve had so far and the opportunities it’s created, it has become one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and it even made me decide to pursue public accounting at some point in my future,” she said.
Gough is actively involved in the business fraternity Phi Chi Theta, Beta Alpha Psi, and a photography club. “I love all the opportunities for engagement, which has to be my favorite part of campus life—there’s always so much to do, and I never find myself bored living on campus. It’s definitely difficult at times to balance academics and engagement, but I feel like I always set my priorities where they need to be,” she shared, adding, “I’m great at organization and creating schedules and to-do lists for myself to keep track of everything.”
Gough first learned about the PCAOB scholarship via an email notifying her she was nominated by a faculty member. She added, “Once I did more research about the PCAOB and the scholarship, I was extremely honored to be nominated and decided to apply without hesitation to be part of this meaningful program.”
After learning about being chosen for the award, she expressed its impact in an FSB news article: “I was honestly just very surprised and overwhelmed with gratitude to the point of tears. I work during the school year and work two jobs over breaks to try to pay for my education. It’s very stressful and it means I don’t take my education for granted and always spare no effort when it comes to it.”
This year, Gough is excited about advancing to higher-level accounting classes and continuing to explore the material. She added, “I’m also looking forward to the new experiences I’ll have and the people I’ll meet. I’ve already met some fantastic students and faculty on campus, and I’m excited to keep connecting with more people and learning about their experiences.”