Graduates in the Spotlight

Jessie Bajwa

Image of Jessie BajwaHOMETOWN: New Milford, Connecticut

MAJOR: Financial Accounting

MINOR: History

WCSU DEGREE:  Bachelor of Business Administration in Financial Accounting

ACTIVITIES: Co-president of WCSU Accounting Society (last two years), member of Finance Club (fall 2016), partnership with MIS Club to approve for Microsoft Certification this spring, part-time tutor in accounting and business courses in the Learning Commons on the Westside campus

INTERNSHIPS: Co-op at IBM in Southbury in the Indirect Audit/Used Sales Tax Department (June-December 2016) and one winter, busy season in 2017 Audit Internship with Deloitte and Touche Stamford office.

HONORS AND AWARDS: High Accounting GPA, Ancell School of Business Citizenship Award

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It should come as no surprise that financial accounting major Jessie Bajwa made his college choice based on dollars and cents. “Choosing WestConn was a financially accommodating decision for me,” he says.

When enrolling, he chose the Finance-Management track in the Ancell School of Business. “After having great introductory accounting professors, performing well in those classes and speaking with the faculty about what I can do with an undergraduate degree and future academic pursuits in accounting, and my first internship, which only reaffirmed my decision, I switched my major to financial accounting,” he says. As a result, he’s been here more than four years, as he was achieving 150 credit hours toward becoming a CPA.

Bajwa says several people have become mentors to him while at WestConn. “First, Dr. Martin, the dean of the Ancell School of Business, who I had for Principles of Finance,” he says. “Plus, there were several who served as more career and academic mentors in terms of providing advice and knowledge on internship opportunities or professional workshops with matters such as resume preparation and who helped narrow my career scope: Associate Professor of Accounting Guy Rotondo, Career Success Center Director of Cooperative Education Internship Programs Dr. Anthony Ciarleglio and Learning Commons Coordinator Elise Budnick.”

Asked what he will remember most about his WestConn experience, Bajwa says, “Helping plan and coordinate recruitment events with both large and local accounting firms, and helping provide a younger class of students the same opportunities that were presented to me.”

Bajwa was extended a job offer from Deloitte, where he completed his internship. “I will be starting with the firm in their Audit Department this fall as a first-year associate.”

His advice to new students entering WCSU is: “Whether dorming or commuting, full-time or part-time, every freshman student should begin to envision their future. While freshmen do not need to know what they are doing for the rest of their lives by tomorrow, it is best to begin looking into a possible route. Because without some foundation or idea of what that student wants to do by the end of their freshman year, that’s when the student only delays their discovery of what will make them happy. And WCSU has limitless resources to assist students with their individual pursuits.”