Morningside junior accounting major Seth Nelson has been named the 2023 recipient of the Iowa CPA Education Foundation Scholarship for the sixth time in seven years.
Nelson is from Remsen, Iowa, and in order to be considered, he had to meet a list of qualifications from the Iowa Society of CPAs (ISCPA) and complete an application with an essay. In addition to these criteria, students must provide a professional CV and transcript. A cover letter of recommendation must also be sent by a faculty member.
“When I received the email notifying me that I had gotten the award I was ecstatic,” Nelson said. “It was nice knowing that my hard work is paying off and that I need to continue working hard to achieve my goal of becoming a CPA.”
Some of the qualifications for receiving the scholarship include being an Iowa resident and intending to work in Iowa after graduation, having a 3.0 GPA or above, completing at least 60 credit hours, and being a student affiliate member of the ISCPA. Twyla Rosenbaum, an accounting professor, participates in determining which Morningside student is nominated for the prize.
“What stood out in my choice of Seth Nelson as our Morningside scholarship nominee this year is that he serves as an Executive officer with the Accounting Club, attended the Midwest Accounting & Auditing conference in Minneapolis during October, and attended the Institute of Management Accountant’s national student leadership conference during October in Pittsburgh,” Rosenbaum said.
Nelson is also a member of the Morningside bowling and esports teams, a Residence Hall Advisor, and has worked as an accounting intern at Remsen for the past three years.
Every college and institution in Iowa is able to pick one scholarship application per school. The awardees were publicly recognized in May during the ISCPA annual meeting and leadership conference in Des Moines. Nelson will be recognized for the scholarship at the convention in May.
“Morningside prepares students for these types of awards by informing students that these things in life are not a given, you have to work for them and take initiative,” Nelson said. “You can’t let things just come to you; you have to take the extra step to get there.”
Nelson is the sixth Morningside student to receive this scholarship. The previous five are Joy Krei (2017), Gabrielle Roe (2019), Morgan Todd (2020), Madilyn Brown (2021), and Brenick Birks-Hoppe (2022).
“One of the reasons our students have been so successful is their level of involvement on campus and their commitment to civic engagement in the community in addition to their top academic achievements,” Rosenbaum said. “Most of these students have attended a multitude of Accounting Club conferences at a local, regional, and national level, have worked numerous internships, and have served in leadership positions with Accounting Club.”
As for Nelson in particular, his outstanding work in a variety of areas within the accounting program stands out most to his academic advisor.
“I have come to rely on Seth’s leadership with all the extra-curricular activities that our accounting program offers. Seth is lucky to have had immediate family members along the way who have fully supported his goal to practice as a CPA in Iowa. I am proud of Seth’s numerous accomplishments, including this scholarship honor!”