A Student Member’s Views on the Profession.

As an entering underclassman in 2002, I am part of generation Y in America. We are 60 million strong and, according to research, a conservative, pragmatic, spiritual generation that respects our parents, teachers and leaders. These traits should serve us well as we eventually replace our baby boomer parents in the business world.

Enron and the other companies that collapsed from, among other things, ethics scandals and the professionals who apparently let down the accounting profession have not steered me away from majoring in and pursuing a career in business—I just want to work harder and better. And I think this attitude sums up my entire generation’s sentiments when it comes to adversity.

Today more and more students are majoring in business and accounting. Until recently, CPAs were considered boring. Then they hit the front page of every newspaper from The New York Times to Small Town Monthly. Suddenly people realized that accountants were right in the middle of everything that goes on in a business—the scandals and dirty deals in the business world brought more attention to the accounting profession. The demand for CPAs now officially rivals that for Cabbage Patch Kid dolls in the early 1980s.

It took billions of dollars in scandals, but now the American people and, most important, the American college student, see how good becoming an accountant really can be.

I have always known: My father is a CPA.

Marc Cangemi
Edison, New Jersey