Why I decided to pursue a PhD in Accounting at UWaterloo

The
key
is
to
know
what
the
right
fit
is
for
you

When
I
was
in
business
school,
most
of
my
friends
were
focused
on
working
at
an
accounting
firm.
Wearing
suits
and
working
downtown
sounded
attractive
but
I
always
felt
that
a
professional
career
in
accounting
was
not
the
right
fit
for
me.
I
had
a
passion
for
learning
and
during
my
undergrad,
I
realized
that
I
really
enjoyed
learning
about
financial
accounting.
To
be
honest,
there
were
certain
parts
that
I
didn’t
enjoy.
I
wasn’t
a
big
fan
of
preparing
journal
entries
and
trial
balances.
I
enjoyed
learning
about
the
objectives
of
accounting
standards
and
why
transactions
were
recognized
in
certain
ways.
If
an
accounting
standard
changed,
I
wanted
to
learn
about
the
reason
for
the
change
and
whether
the
new
standard
was
better.
This
curiosity
was
intriguing
and
actually
motivated
my
decision
to
see
whether
a
future
in
accounting
research
was
the
right
fit.

I
decided
to
attend
the
PhD
in
Accounting
information
session
at
the
University
of
Waterloo
because
I
wanted
to
learn
what
it
meant
to
be
a
PhD
student.
At
the
session,
I
had
a
chance
to
network
with
current
students
and
faculty
members.
Everyone
was
extremely
warm,
and
I
could
tell
that
the
program
had
a
supportive
environment.
During
the
information
session,
one
aspect
of
the
program
that
grabbed
my
attention
was
their
focus
on
providing
students
with
both
breadth
and
depth
of
accounting
research.
I
agree
that
it
is
important
to
not
only
develop
a
depth
of
expertise
in
your
research
area,
but
also
a
fundamental
understanding
of
other
research
areas
within
accounting.
I
had
a
strong
feeling
that
the
University
of
Waterloo
was
the
right
fit
for
me,
and
I
immediately
accepted
my
offer
when
I
received
the
good
news.

Currently,
I
am
a
second-year
student
in
the
program,
and
it
has
been
a
great
experience
so
far!
I’ve
also
taken
multiple

accounting
research
seminars
in
many
different
research
areas
such
as
management
accounting,
analytic
and
archival
research,
and
financial
accounting.
It
is
amazing
that
the
faculty
at
the
School
of
Accounting
and
Finance
has
such
a
diverse
set
of
research
strengths
to
be
able
to
provide
all
these
accounting
seminars.
The
other
PhD
students
have
been
amazing
as
well.
We
are
a
small
cohort
so
there
is
a
lot
of
camaraderie
between
us.
We
have
a
WhatsApp
group
chat
going
on
where
we
talk
about
our
daily
lives,
our
classes,
and
of
course,
our
academic
struggles!
It’s
great
how
we
always
try
to
motivate
each
other
through
our
academic
journey.

Overall,
I
am
extremely
happy
with
my
decision to
enter
academia and
join
the
University
of
Waterloo
as
a
PhD
student.
I
am
deeply
interested
in
the
work
that
I
am
doing
every
day
and
I
find
it
extremely
motivating
to
pursue
a
career
that
satisfies
my
thirst
for
knowledge
and
career
ambitions!