Josh Topper followed his sister’s path south from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to High Point University, where he found the accounting academics and life skills that have now added up to a career in audit and assurance at Deloitte in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As a senior accounting major with a minor in finance, Topper completed an internship at Deloitte last summer and looks forward to starting as a full-time Deloitte audit and assurance employee in the fall. Topper’s third internship during his four years at HPU was with Deloitte. During the spring semester of his junior year, he worked a full-time tax internship at Carr, Riggs & Ingram, CPA. He also worked as a part-time tax intern at Scott Cornelius, CPA, in High Point, North Carolina, during his sophomore year.
Topper first learned of HPU through the experiences of his sister, who was an HPU student while he was in high school. When the time came to apply to college, HPU was outstanding to Topper because of its standing as the Premier Life Skills University, where gaining skills such as networking and adaptability were woven into the educational experience.
“I was thoroughly impressed by the Accounting Department, with the curriculum and resources available being exceptional,” says Topper. “The main forces that drove me to HPU were the intangibles that other schools could not offer such as the Office of Career and Professional Development, opportunities with industry professionals offered through the Access to Innovators Program, the Office for Student Success and the countless connections available with extraordinary faculty, staff and leaders.”
Lessons in Life Skills
Topper found HPU helped strengthen his already existing life skills as well as provided him with new life skills.
“I came into college with knowledge of my goals, strong decision-making ability, critical thinking and work ethic,” says Topper. “HPU has greatly reinforced and strengthened these life skills through my classes, course projects and internship opportunities. HPU has given me knowledge and experience with professionalism and improved my communication skills in both the personal and professional setting. All these skills have already and will continue to be valuable in preparing me for long-term success.”
George Noxon, associate professor of accounting and finance, says Topper has presented a professional demeanor since he met him as a first-semester sophomore at HPU’s Meet the Firms recruiting event. Meet the Firms is an opportunity for accounting majors to make connections with accounting firms on campus, often leading to internships or jobs.
“Meet the Firms is great because it brings the Big 4 accounting firms but also medium and local firms for students who might prefer a smaller accounting firm,” says Topper. “I think my biggest takeaway from Meet the Firms was getting to network with many different sized accounting firms and learning about the different career paths available in the accounting field.”
Assignments from Associate Professor of Accounting and Finance Scott Davis’s taxation classes helped Topper develop through preparing mock tax returns for individuals and corporations. He applied those experiences on complex, high-level returns during his tax internship at Carr, Riggs & Ingram.
“It was great to see direct application from the classroom to the real world,” says Topper. “The thing I liked most about the tax classes was the focus on high level conceptual tax planning instead of simply tax preparation. The real ‘value add’ in tax comes from the tax planning side and not simply the preparation. Learning the tax laws and applying them to client situations is where you add value to a client.”
Davis gave Topper his highest level of praise.
“’What do you think, Josh?’ was a common refrain I heard in both tax classes from Josh’s classmates on the occasions where I would present a scenario in class and ask students for their insights about the correct solution, demonstrating the respect and trust Josh has built in the accounting program among his peers and faculty,” says Davis. “Josh gets it, whether it is accounting content, professional development, life skills or choosing to be extraordinary.”
Caring Professors and Alumni
Multiple professors were available whenever Topper sought advice or a review of his ideas. He found mentors across the entire accounting department and says each professor helped to shape him for success beyond the classroom.
“The accounting faculty have prepared me for anything the future may hold and have built a foundation that will carry me throughout my life,” says Topper. “I am very thankful to have had professors who care so much about me and who were always there to pick me up and continue to push me forward during times of stress or adversity.”
When asked how HPU has helped him to achieve his goals, Topper said he found the assistance he needed to develop personally and professionally over the last four years. Rachel Lynch, ’21, who works with Deloitte in New York City, provided a networking connection for Topper to land his job in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“Any time I’ve ever needed help, there has always been someone to guide me and give me unwavering support and advice,” says Topper. “My professors have been amazing with providing feedback and challenging me no matter what I am trying to accomplish. HPU has also helped me achieve my goals by providing me with a strong sense of camaraderie in all my classes, thanks to the small class sizes. Throughout my accounting classes, I have been with the same group of students, allowing us to form a powerful bond of assistance and encouragement as we share the same values and purpose.”