Not everyone who wants to become an accountant when they grow up can afford to. Scholarships play an important role in encouraging the next generation to pursue their chosen career. Recently, two groups awarded scholarships to accounting students for the coming academic year.

Rhonda McSwain, an accounting major at Florence-Darlington Technical College, recently received a Thelma Brown Scholarship the Morning News Online of Florence, South Carolina reports. The Housing Authority of Florence’s Office of Resident Services awards six scholarships to residents who have lived in public housing for more than a year and are working toward self-improvement through education. McSwain is a single mom with two boys, ages 12 and 9, and a daughter, age 6. She has worked part-time for six years as a customer service representative in the Florence County Treasurer’s Office collecting car and property taxes. In her second year at Florence-Darlington, her goal is to graduate in 2007, continue pursuing her undergraduate degree in accounting at a nearby university and become a certified public accountant. The course she has enjoyed most so far is Accounting 111 taught by Joe Norris.

“I have never in my life seen a teacher take something as plain as numbers and make them into something enjoyable,” she told the Morning News Online. “And the whole class agrees. Everyone just has to be there.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)’s annual scholarship awards are a positive contribution to three college students from the Cayman islands according to Cayman Net News Online. Samantha Widmer is pursuing an accounting degree and a member of the varsity golf team at Elon University in North Carolina. With an overall GPA of 3.9, Shelly-Ann Barnaby has completed her Associates and will attend Brock University in Ontario, Canada this fall. Following in her footsteps, David Meyerhoff is planning to earn an Associates degree from University College of the Cayman Islands before going abroad to complete his Bachelors degree in accounting.

“These students have an excellent opportunity before them – I know this firsthand,” says Sean Parchment, a former PwC Scholarship recipient and now employed by PwC. “After I completed university, I joined the firm and was advanced to a management position in a relatively short period of time.”

And four future accountants are on their way....