After researching more about business graduate programs at UNI, Olya realized that Master of Accounting would help her career.

“My undergraduate degree was in international business, so I decided to pursue a Master of Accounting degree, which focused on one particular subject I found, and continue to find, interesting,” Olya said.

The programs offered by the UNI College of Business Administration were not new to Olya. In 1997, she traveled from Russia to participate in the international exchange program that allowed her to take business courses at UNI for two semesters. Thereafter, she graduated from Far East State Academy of Economics in Vladivostok, Russia, in 2000 and worked in Russia for two years before moving to Waterloo with her husband, Steve, a UNI alumnus.

As a graduate student, Olya took her education to the next level by getting professional experience as a member service representative, and then internal auditor, at John Deere Community Credit Union. Olya enjoyed her studies at UNI and is very appreciative of the support and commitment of the faculty. She believes that UNI accounting professors made a significant contribution to her education.

“I took several courses with Professor Michael Oleson on accounting theory and took away a much better understanding of the concepts behind the rules of the profession,” Olya said. “Professor Oleson was very passionate about the subject, and I truly enjoyed his classes. I find that I use many of the concepts introduced in his classes in my work.”

Professor Oleson passed away in 2004.

Parallel to her graduate studies, Olya took non-credit review courses offered by the Accounting Department to prepare for the CPA exam. She found that these courses were not just extra classes but that they contributed to her learning. Olya talks with appreciation about Professor Laverne Andreessen, who was teaching one of the CPA review courses.

“His infallible sense of humor and extended experience in the profession made this challenging class a lot of fun and took me a step further from only learning the rules and the formulas,” she said. “I learned to see the business reasons behind debits and credits.”

Olya is glad she took the CPA Exam review courses. Her hard work paid off when she received an Elijah Watt Sells Award for 2004 from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). She was one of 10 recipients in the nation, from among more than 50,000 examinees.

Olya encourages current UNI students preparing for the CPA Exam to take the review courses. She mentions benefits of the courses other than preparation for the Exam.

“You’re in review classes with students who are working toward the same goal you are—to pass the Exam,” Olya said. “It becomes more of a group effort, and I was glad to have this support and the extra push.”

Now that she is working in the international tax services group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Minneapolis, she is combining her undergraduate degree in international business with her graduate work in accounting.

“I work on many international tax projects for U.S. companies that do business overseas,” she said. “In my career, you quickly realize how small the world is and how business concepts are often interchangeable across borders.”

She’s also putting to use other skills that she learned in UNI Master of Accounting courses. Olya stresses that communication skills have become extremely important in her career.

“When you work with different groups of people, you have to learn how to adjust to their work styles,” she said. “Often we speak different languages and our cultures are different. That is when communication skills and ability to understand another culture get even more important.”

Time management skills are also critical when fulfilling her daily career responsibilities.

“You have to learn how to set priorities and be able to switch from one type of work to another without losing focus,” she said.

Olya lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Steve, a librarian at the Minneapolis Public Library. Olya mentions how patient and supportive Steve and her in-laws, Jim and Jan Stuber, were as she juggled graduate school, her job and family commitments. She says that finding work-life balance is very important.

“I enjoy my job enormously, but I also have other interests in life that I do not want to neglect,” she said. “Spending time with my family and friends and doing what I enjoy makes my life more fulfilling and meaningful.”