Current Student Spotlight

Amanda Bush, BS ’20, MS ‘21

What is your Gabelli School story?

I started out as an undergraduate Gabelli School student, and I have had the best experience as a Gabelli student in both my undergraduate and graduate years. I was a part of one of the social innovation cohorts sophomore year, and I have taken advantage of many of the unique classes the Gabelli School offers, such as Sustainability and Finance and Accounting Research Seminar, which focused on sustainability. I believe Gabelli does a great job teaching a “business with a purpose” curriculum, and I have enjoyed learning this from many accomplished, knowledgeable professors.

What motivated you to study accounting for both your undergrad and Masters's program?

I have always been a numbers person, and I was able to gain a bit of exposure to accounting through working at my dad’s business in high school. Having started his own company, my dad encouraged me to pursue an accounting degree because he understood how important it was to business. After Dr. Porco taught me in my introductory financial accounting course sophomore year that accounting is the “language of business”, I knew that accounting would be a smart, stable path for me to pursue.

What will you be doing following the completion of your MS degree?

I will be starting as a full-time associate in the Audit Financial Services sector at KPMG in the early fall this year, and my goal is to be all done with my CPA exams by the time I start!

Can you talk about the research you have conducted for sustainability practices?

During both semesters of my Master’s program, I have had the opportunity to assist in leading a major project being completed by SASB, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. The SASB is working on a globalization project in order to ultimately help make its US-based standards more globally applicable and relevant. Fordham was engaged to assist in the research for this project, and I have served as a team supervisor both semesters. SASB has prepared over 400 questions related to its standards across a variety of industries, and our job has been to answer each question and research the applicability of each question for 11 different countries/regions. It was extremely valuable to become familiar with professional research through this project, and I was able to leave with many interesting takeaways from the specific global research.

What classes have had the most impact on you as a student?

The SASB tutorial that I was able to participate in has been one of the most impactful courses I’ve taken. This class provided me with great real-world exposure to the sustainability accounting field while also allowing me to develop my leadership and management skills. As a team supervisor, I had the responsibility of managing a group of undergraduate students, which involved providing them with directions and oversight and reviewing their submissions in order to give valuable feedback. The role that I took on in this project really helped prepare me for future supervision of team members at KPMG. Additionally, I have always been interested in sustainable accounting, and working directly with the SASB on this major research project really solidified my interest in the field. I’m not sure what exactly my future career holds, but I hope to incorporate ESG and sustainability into my accounting path eventually!

What are some associations and societies that you are a part of?

As a graduate student, I’m a peer advisor for the MSA/MST programs and have held Graduate Assistant positions both semesters. As an undergraduate, I was a University Ambassador for the Rose Hill Society, an Orientation Leader, a Gabelli School of Business Freshman Advising Mentor, and a member of Beta Alpha Psi. However, with CPA studying being my main priority this year, I have not gotten involved with as many associations at the graduate level.

Past Student Spotlight