Bluffton University - Lawrence leads the way to success

Samantha Lawrence '12, Harrod, Ohio

Completing a double major in accounting and business administration and preparing a departmental honors project wasn t quite enough activity for Bluffton s Student Senate president, Samantha Lawrence from Harrod, Ohio.

Lawrence also represented Bluffton at the Institute of Management Accountants national Student Leadership Conference in Cincinnati. The senior is one of only five students in the state who were chosen to receive a full scholarship for travel and lodging costs for the November 2011 conference.

Lawrence s scholarship success has Jason Swartzlander, an assistant professor of accounting and her adviser, extremely excited, he says. We are proud that a Bluffton student was selected from such a large pool of students invited to apply. This is the second time in the past four years a Bluffton student received a full scholarship.

The conference includes networking opportunities and keynote speakers from Chiquita Brands International and Ford Motor Co. The scholarship, says Lawrence, helps reaffirm my decision to major in accounting, that it s a good field for me.

The 2008 Allen East High School graduate has felt that way since she took a high school accounting class, and I just really enjoyed it. Last spring, Lawrence added her second major, in business administration, which offers credit for her ongoing honors project.

At the same time, she s wrapping up a four-year run in the Student Senate as its president an office for which she was well prepared. Lawrence was her senior class president in high school and, before that, president of her 4-H club. A dozen years of 4-H projects and public speaking is one of the biggest reasons I m comfortable in this position, she says.

The biggest challenge for me is balancing commitments, she admits. I like to be involved in my community says Lawrence who also serves as a campus tutor and holds two jobs one in the campus admissions office and an off campus job at the local movie theatre.

Among Lawrence s next priorities is finding an internship that will help her decide which type of accounting she would like to pursue after graduation next spring. If no job is forthcoming then, she s considering a year of voluntary service that would help me discern what I want to do next.