As Benjamin Franklin once said, nothing is certain in life but death and taxes.
For some, the quote is a depressing reality check. For Bentley’s Master of Science in Taxation (MST) candidate Christina Bush’17, however, it’s an opportunity.
Narrowing Focus, Broadening Horizons
Bush graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts-Boston in 2014, but found her bachelor’s degree in management and accounting to be too broad.
“I chose to go for a master’s degree because I felt I needed something more specialized,” she says. “Taxation appealed to me because it’s multifaceted: Every company and every individual is affected by taxes. So I could essentially work anywhere, and still have the independence to branch out. I don't necessarily have to be someone’s employee — I could be my own boss.”
Technology and Tradition
Bentley appealed to Bush for a variety of reasons: the school’s international reputation and century-long history of training top accountants, as well as its embrace of technology and engaged faculty.
“The ACELAB (Bentley’s Howard A. Winer Accounting Center for Electronic Learning and Business Measurement) and the rest of the technology on campus is akin to what’s used in the accounting industry,” she explains. “And the faculty and staff members that I’ve dealt with have all been so hospitable. They’ve shown genuine interest in helping me attain my professional goals.”
She also took part in the 2015 National Black MBA Case Competition with three of her Bentley classmates. The team traveled to Orlando, Fla., to give representatives from Chrysler fresh perspective on how the company could make its Jeep line more attractive to multicultural consumer markets. The experience gave her insight into how leading companies deal with real-world problems, and allowed her to connect with other business leaders attending the competition.
“My team developed an innovative strategy for the case and presented it to a panel of judges who are experienced business executives,” Bush explains. “The competition took place as part of a huge conference where students were given the chance to interview with companies at a pretty high level of interest.”
The Skillset to Succeed
Bush says Bentley’s combination of classwork and practical learning has given her a well-rounded skillset with which to approach her career after graduation. She studied abroad in Bermuda this past spring, examining the country’s role in the global financial services market. And her favorite class, TX 791 (Practicum in Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic), has given her further valuable insight into the field.
“It’s given me hands-on experience in resolving tax controversies, speaking with government agencies, the importance of documenting my work, and projecting myself during meetings,” says Bush.
The course also provides an opportunity for clinical fieldwork under the supervision of a faculty member. Bush has taken the experience a step further by working as a student assistant in Bentley’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, where students offer free tax return preparation for area residents through the IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and Bentley’s Service Learning Center.
“I handle tax controversy cases for low-income clients who for various reasons have outstanding state and or federal tax issues,” says Bush. “It is my responsibility to audit the client’s file, reach out to the aforementioned agencies, and then present to the client the best course of action to resolving their tax matter so they may go on with their life and not be burdened by unresolved tax matters.
It’s rewarding work, Bush says: “What I really love is hearing the relief and joy in the client’s voice when I inform them that I was able to resolve their tax controversies.”
Bush was awarded a scholarship from the New England Chapter Tax Executives Institute, Inc. (TEI) this past May, and serves as student affairs director for the Boston chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). In this role, she acts as the liaison between NABA student chapters at Bentley and the University of Rhode Island, individual student members from other local universities who don’t have an established NABA chapter on their campus, and the professional chapter.
She starts work in the Boston office of Ernst & Young this summer, and will continue working toward her MST for another year. In the meantime, she’s soaking in all the Bentley graduate school experience has to offer.
“I’m still exploring and taking in as much information as I can so when I do start my career in a few months I go in with a wealth of knowledge.”