{"id":285,"date":"2022-12-29T20:08:42","date_gmt":"2022-12-29T20:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/?p=285"},"modified":"2024-03-05T15:49:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T15:49:00","slug":"financial-accounting-career-provides-its-own-kind-of-adrenaline-for-oxford-resident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/2022\/12\/29\/financial-accounting-career-provides-its-own-kind-of-adrenaline-for-oxford-resident\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial accounting career provides its own kind of adrenaline for alumnus Kevin Tirella"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Alumnus Kevin Tirella<\/p><\/div>\n

Sometimes the career you envisioned and the one you end up having could not possibly be more different. That was the case for Oxford resident Kevin Tirella, who anticipated a career in law enforcement, and ended up being a Greenwich-based CPA consultant.<\/p>\n

Tirella planned to play football and ultimately become a police officer when he went out of state to attend college. Neither of those pursuits lived up to his expectations, so he returned to Connecticut and ended up at Western Connecticut State University<\/a> where he enrolled as a business major in the Ancell School of Business<\/a>. It was his very first accounting class that set him on the path to where he is today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a gut feeling that being a cop wasn\u2019t for me,\u201d Tirella said. \u201cI decided to try business and entered WCSU as a sophomore transfer student. Basic accounting was required for business majors and I loved my first class, so I kept taking accounting classes. The professors made it fun and they inspired me and drove my success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tirella acknowledged that for some people, accounting has a bad rep as being boring. \u201cI guess I gravitate toward things people stay away from,\u201d he laughed. \u201cI loved every second of it. Professor Monks\u2019 fraud class was amazing \u2014 it was my favorite. He shared real-life scenarios and told stories that were intriguing.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Tirella was awarded the Senior Accounting Award, Professor of Accounting Dr. Michelle Ganon \u201cwas so proud and happy for me,\u201d he recalled. \u201cThe professors were excellent. They challenged me and wanted me to push myself and to learn. They actually cared how I developed.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a WCSU senior, Tirella took a full-time job as an Accounts Payable Specialist at Tech Air and completed his B.B.A. in Financial Accounting<\/a> in 2015 by taking night classes. Tech Air promoted him to Staff Accountant, and he continued to work there for four and a half years, returning to WCSU to obtain his MBA in 2019.<\/p>\n

As before, WCSU\u2019s accounting faculty demonstrated their interest in Tirella, and encouraged him to pursue his CPA. \u201cThey cared how my life was progressing,\u201d he said. \u201cAt a bigger school without the relationships I was able to develop with my professors, I probably never would\u2019ve become a CPA. That\u2019s how I got to where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tirella applied to \u2014 and was hired by \u2014 Big 4 accounting firm Deloitte.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was at Deloitte, I realized it\u2019s up to you to make something of yourself,\u201d Tirella said. \u201cI\u2019m a living example that successful people can come from anywhere: you don\u2019t have to be fortunate enough to be able to afford Harvard. I have met so many WCSU students who are extremely smart and have the capability to do whatever they want without the Ivy league degree. It doesn\u2019t matter where you came from \u2014 where\u2019s there\u2019s a will there\u2019s a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

After two years working with Manhattan and Stamford financial services and technology clients for Deloitte, Tirella decided he wanted a better work-life balance. \u201cWorking at Deloitte was a great learning experience, but the hours are tough,\u201d he said. \u201cThere, you put yourself at a different level, but ultimately you have to appreciate life and time with your family.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some may speculate that life might have been more thrilling in law enforcement, Tirella disagreed. \u201cAccounting can be fun and exciting, despite what people think. I did it backwards from the way most people do it by working in industry first and then doing public accounting, but I\u2019m beyond happy as a CPA consultant at The Siegfried Group, and grateful for the dramatic impact WCSU had on my life by setting the foundation of my success in accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes the career you envisioned and the one you end up having could not possibly be more different. That was the case for Oxford resident Kevin Tirella, who anticipated a career in law enforcement, and ended up being a Greenwich-based …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-success-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}