MORE ABOUT ANDREA
Graduation Date: June 2008
Hometown: Dyer, Indiana
High School: Lake Central High School (St. John, Indiana)
Awards & Achievements:
- Fred Lang Case Competition Champion May 2006
- Outstanding Freshman Leader
- Outstanding Contribution to Student Affairs and Academics
- Leadership Development Certificate
- Jack Lane Leadership Conference Scholarship
- Construction Financial Management Association Scholarship
- Dean’s List
- Studied abroad for five weeks in Luneburg, Germany
- Alumni Relations profile student
Campus Involvement:
- Accounting Club
- Beta Alpha Psi
- Service Immersion Trips
- Catholic Campus Ministry
- Student Leadership Institute
- Honors Program Mentor
- Intramural Soccer
- Elks National Foundation office assistant
Andrea C. Cohen
Area of Study:Accountancy with a minor in German
I chose my major because... accounting opens many doors in the business world. With an accounting background, I’ll be better able to serve in other business departments in the future, like finance or marketing. Also, accountants will always be in demand in the workplace and job security is important to me. With the German minor, I may even be able to transfer my accounting skills abroad.
I decided to attend DePaul because... I wanted a change in environment and an opportunity to meet new people. Having lived in the suburbs my whole life, moving to the big city enticed me. I love being able to attend a festival, opera or campus event in the same day. Chicago has definitely proven itself to be “my kind of town.” At state schools in Indiana, I would’ve been surrounded by my high school friends and more hesitant to branch out. Here at DePaul, I’ve been able to build a new, large network and also maintain relationships at home.
The learning environment here at DePaul is... great. My learning environment is somewhat different from other students, being in the university Honors Program and the Strobel Honors Accounting Program. The university Honors Program caps class sizes at twenty students and is primarily seminar-based. Because there are only about 150 Honors students in my graduating class, I’ve gotten to know and befriend many of them. The Strobel Program keeps the same students together every quarter throughout the four-year curriculum at DePaul. We, like the Honors Program students, have become a close group.
My favorite professor at DePaul is... Catherine Ramsden. I took her business writing course and her talents helped me beyond the classroom. When I created a proposal for my Leadership Development Certificate Capstone Project months after the course with her ended, I needed help. Professor Ramsden helped me through e-mail, phone conversations and meetings to critique and improve the proposal’s format and content. She even attended my major presentation of the proposal to DePaul staff members, showing her support and outreach.
When I have free time, I like to... do anything Chicago has to offer. I often find myself doing homework at the beach, attending a free concert at Millennium Park or utilizing my student discount at comedy clubs.
One thing I didn’t know about DePaul before coming was... the possibility for a Catholic school to be so open-minded. Catholic, one of DePaul’s three pillars, takes on a new meaning at DePaul. DePaul embraces the "catholic means universal" approach, highlighting inclusiveness, diversity and progression.
Here, the diversity of students, faculty and staff... is apparent and adds to the learning environment. Class discussions and extracurricular interaction with people of different backgrounds really enrich the experience. Beliefs and opinions vary — a breath of fresh air from my homogenous hometown.
At DePaul, service learning is... second nature, as Vincentian is one of our three pillars. Each fall, DePaul conducts a service day with all incoming freshman; each spring a Vincentian Service Day with over 1,000 university- and city-wide volunteers. Dozens of student groups revolve around service, including Amnesty International and Students Against Hunger and Homelessness. DePaul even has a home, The Vincent & Louise House, reserved for 10 students who, in exchange for residence, commit to a year of service, community, simplicity, faith and civic engagement. On top of that, DePaul offers scholarships with service criterion. The most recent contribution to this dedication is the Steans Center, empowering students to be socially conscious and life-long public servants.
My experience at DePaul as an accounting major... has been guided by caring staff and faculty. As an accounting student at DePaul, I’m always invited to events, notified about company visits, contacted about firm interaction and treated like a valued asset. The faculty and staff have made themselves very accessible and approachable, easing the transfer from high school student to college student to professional, which all happens in these four brisk years. From the first week of freshman year classes, when I attended my first Strobel Reception, I remember talking to recruiters from accounting firms that evening. They’d ask, "How much accounting experience do you have?" I’d reply, "About three hours." And just a few feet away stood DePaul accounting professors and staff, making sure we were all right. With that in mind, there was more motivation to excel in accounting and make DePaul proud.
The best thing about DePaul is... its learning environment. At DePaul, my mind has opened, filled and changed. Coming to college, I was ignorant about many things. Now that I’m in my fourth year at DePaul, I’ve had new experiences, talked to different people and learned new things. I’ve gone on service trips to the Gulf Coast to do relief work and Denver and Washington, D.C. to work with the homeless. I’ve done taxes for free for low-income families. These activities are but a few taken on by DePaul students who immerse themselves in the service/Vincentian core of DePaul. This exposure and DePaul’s academic environment have given me the ability to let new facts and lessons change my mind about many issues. It feels good to know that I’m learning inside and outside of the classroom.
My greatest success as a student here has been... finding balance. I’ve been able to balance academics, a summer studying abroad, extra-curricular activities, employment, personal health, socializing, becoming acquainted with Chicago, family and relaxation. I love being productive in more than one realm and resting more easily because of it. I think that this balance contributed to my happiness at DePaul.
The one thing I’d like to say to students considering DePaul... every quarter gets better. Do not be intimidated by the first few weeks or even months here. Admittedly, DePaul didn’t thrill me fall quarter of my freshman year. I would call home, wondering why I would choose a school in a city like Chicago, where entertainment seemed to be limited to those “of age.” As I got more involved, took on responsibility and pursued friendships through classes, that question disappeared. I knew why I had chosen DePaul: because every quarter you’ll meet someone new, become interested in a new subject, or just appreciate living in one of the best cities in the world.
Back to Student Spotlight index page
VIEW LINKS FOR:
