Kent State University senior accounting major Lauren
Romick (center) of Stow, Ohio, received a $3,000
first-place honor as the 2013 Scholarship Day award
recipient from the Ohio Society of CPAs. Pictured
(from left to right) are Jerry Esselstein, CPA, of Jerry L.
Esselstein Company, LLC; Peter Margaritis, CPA, of Peter A.
Margaritis, LLC; Romick; Jim Bronder, CPA, of the University
of Northwestern Ohio; and Sharon Reisman, CPA, of Clark
Schaefer Hackett.

(Photo credit: Jill Ellis)

Kent State University senior accounting major Lauren Romick of Stow, Ohio, received a $3,000 first-place honor as the 2013 Scholarship Day award recipient from the Ohio Society of CPAs (OSCPA). Several accounting students in Ohio competed for the award.

“I was very surprised but excited when they announced my name as the winner,” says Romick. “I could not believe that I had won.”

Each participant in the 2013 Scholarship Day previously won a $2,000 award from the Ohio CPA Foundation’s annual statewide scholarship program. This award made participants eligible to compete at the 2013 Scholarship Day.

“It’s a great honor that Lauren was invited to the Scholarship Day, and I think she represents Kent State University very well,” says Linda Zucca, chair for Kent State’s Department of Accounting.

Zucca has known Romick since she came on campus as a freshman. Zucca says Romick is very active in student organizations and serves as a First-year Experience instructor, assisting first-year students through their transition to a collegiate atmosphere and the larger academic community.

Romick learned of the scholarship from the OSCPA student ambassador, informing Kent State’s Accounting Association about the scholarship application.

The students received a set of potential questions the judges may ask, and Romick researched each question thoroughly, spending a month preparing for the OSCPA event.

Each student was interviewed by four individual judges. Once the four interviews were completed, the judges formed a panel to interview each student.

“I really enjoyed speaking with the judges and professionals about their experiences with the accounting profession,” says Romick. “They each had an interesting perspective on the OSCPA and the opportunities and services it had to offer students and professionals.”

“It’s a great accomplishment. She worked very hard to get this award,” says Zucca. “It shows how good our students are here at Kent State.”

Romick is currently an audit intern at Deloitte. After graduation, she plans to start a career as an auditor in public accounting in the Cleveland area.

“She is an amazing, outstanding student in all respects,” says Zucca.

For more information about Kent State’s Department of Accounting, visit www.kent.edu/business/accounting.