Who I am:
I am Michael Walter Matthews, I graduated from STEM School Highlands Ranch, and I am currently a senior at Western Colorado University. I have no professional or internship experience, so I am very excited to be starting this up. I snowboard during the winter, and I do whatever gets me outside during spring/summer. I am also a part of the e-sports organization at WCU (competitive video games) and I lift to balance that out. I am originally from Millersville, Maryland but I moved out to Colorado in 2009 and have lived here ever since.
Why I chose BiggsKofford:
I chose BiggsKofford for several reasons, the first of many being that there was a meet and greet that WCU was invited to in the fall of 2021, and it seemed like a very nontraditional CPA firm from the start. Once I learned of the core values of the firm, such as interdependence, I knew this was my top choice for an internship even though I lived an hour away. This firm seemed extraordinarily hardworking and honest, along with having a great team. Rather than assisting only one partner for the duration of the internship, I can work with the entire firm and that’s what makes BiggsKofford great.
Details on what my first two days were like:
On the first day, Wyatt and I were introduced to what a typical Monday would look like for the audit team. We sat in on the audit department meeting, which was a very laid-back experience, while also very helpful. After, we were able to attend 3 hours of CPE and were able to get essentially a confirmation on how friendly and hardworking everybody is. We were then able to meet with Chris, discuss the core values of the firm, and then got set up with our “buddies,” Bridgett and Connor.
On the second day, I went to a client site for an audit which was a brand-new experience for me. Members of the team were able to give me offline work along with letting me shadow them to learn how an actual audit is performed. Despite the issues of me not being able to access the shared the documents, it was overall a great learning experience, and it was great to meet audit team members in a working environment.
Description of what I think my culminating internship week will be like:
I believe that my culminating internship week will be more learning how to be a productive member of an audit team. Hopefully I will be able to get my VPN set up and be able to help at client sites in the future.
Overall, I am extremely excited to have a professional experience and I hope that I can make this into a career into the future.