Commerce and science student Ella Boyd says she is "really grateful" for the opportunity. Image: supplied.
University of Otago commerce and science student Ella Boyd has been awarded a CPA Australia Māori Scholarship for 2017.
CPA Australia is one of the world's largest accounting bodies, offering education, training, technical support and advocacy to a global membership of more than 160,000 members across 118 countries. Its CPA Program is an internationally recognised accounting qualification for people working in accounting, finance or business.
This is only the second year CPA Australia has offered a scholarship to Māori students. CPA Australia Country Head, New Zealander Rick Jones, says the organisation is pleased with the quality of applications.
The scholarship will assist Ella's educational requirements to complete the programme and attain CPA status once she has completed her University studies.
Having thought the scholarship application was a long shot, Ella is incredibly grateful to be a recipient. “It means I've got a specific path to go down; now when I leave University I have something else to concentrate on and a bit of structure.”
I'm really grateful to CPA Australia for providing me with the opportunity to gain such a well-recognised, professional qualification that I'm hoping will set me up for future international job opportunities. I think it provides me with a great opportunity to build international connections, which are becoming more and more important as business becomes more virtual and teams work globally rather than everyone based in the one building.”
Twenty-year-old Ella is in her third year studying towards a double degree in science and commerce, majoring in genetics and accounting, and will complete her science studies this year.
Next year she is heading to Canada for a year to study accounting at both McGill and Queen's universities, and plans to do USA summer camp mid-year. She hopes to graduate in accounting in 2019 after a final year at Otago.
She is then hoping to use her Bachelor of Commerce to obtain a graduate job at an accounting firm, where she can use the CPA Australia scholarship to gain an additional professional qualification.
“Ideally I would love to work for an internationally recognised company like one of the 'Big 4' but if that doesn't work out I think I'll still learn a lot at a smaller firm while sitting my CPA exams.
"As I'll also have a science degree I'm hoping to get a position, possibly in a consultancy, which allows me to do work for science-based companies because I understand their position as well as the financial side of it. Really I just don't want either degree to go to waste so hopefully I'll end up in a job where I can put both to use."
Ella affiliates with Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Porou.