易胜博官网

Sometimes choosing a major comes down to what makes sense. For Lawson Martinez 鈥�18, that has meant not only pursuing at the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics but deciding to return next fall to get his master鈥檚 degree.

It鈥檚 a matter of what will open the most doors, says Martinez, who knew when he was in high school that, for him, business was the way to do that. He鈥檇 done a little work for his mother鈥檚 niche marketing company and liked it, so he started at 易胜博官网 in that major before changing his focus.

鈥淎ccounting is a good path; you can go into almost any industry,鈥� Martinez says of settling on his field. 鈥淎nd I had a professor last semester who talked about the earning potential, so that was good to hear.鈥�

At first, Martinez thought he would go right to work after graduation. And why not? His odds of getting a job were high: Accounting is consistently listed as one of the top 10 best business jobs for new graduates by . But taking a course with Catherine Plante, associate professor of accounting, changed his mind.

鈥淎ccounting is a good path; you can go into almost any industry.鈥�

鈥淪he encouraged me to continue on to pursue my master鈥檚 in accounting and wrote me a letter of recommendation for a scholarship that I applied for,鈥� Martinez says. 鈥淓mployees with master鈥檚 degrees are pretty sought after, so it feels like a good plan that will give me a solid base.鈥�

The Connecticut native had considered other New England schools along with Paul College, but a visit to Durham made the decision for him.听

鈥淎s soon as I came here, I knew it was the place for me. The Paul program has been really great. My experience at 易胜博官网 has been amazing, if not a little eclectic,鈥� Martinez says.

He鈥檚 talking about the job he鈥檚 had at the horse barns for the last four years. And the course he鈥檚 taking in equine studies, where he is the only senior in a class made up of mostly first-year students.

鈥淲orking at the horse barns has been a great learning and growing experience for me,鈥� Martinez says. 鈥淚 went in not knowing anything. I had zero experience.鈥�

That鈥檚 right: He didn鈥檛 have a horse, didn鈥檛 ride, didn鈥檛 grow up around horses. It was just something that caught his attention when he was looking at work options as a freshman, and he thought it might be interesting. So, he applied and was put on a waiting list. When a Sunday morning shift became available, he took it.

鈥淚 fell in love with all that鈥檚 involved,鈥� Martinez says of the barn chores that include mucking stalls (there are 45 in all), morning horse grooming and noon feedings. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been fascinating, even though it鈥檚 meant getting up early Sunday mornings.鈥�

That level of enthusiasm seems to have been part of his entire experience at 易胜博官网. Martinez describes a religion and literature course as one of 鈥渢he best, most involved class discussions I allowed myself to get into.鈥� Studying abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, he took Celtic civilization along with his accounting courses. And the other countries he got to visit while he was there made a lasting impression on him.

鈥淚 went from essentially never leaving the East Coast to spending half a semester in another country and traveling to all these other great places,鈥� Martinez says. 鈥淚t was truly eye-opening.鈥�

Now, as commencement nears, Martinez finds himself 鈥済etting a bit grossly nostalgic.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e made friends with people I鈥檒l probably be friends with for life. I still live with my freshman roommate, who I hadn鈥檛 met until I got here. It鈥檚 gone so fast, it doesn鈥檛 seem possible that it鈥檚 almost over,鈥� he says, adding, 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things that isn鈥檛 real until it is.鈥�