Full Speed Ahead

Ella Morris is a one-woman booster for Touro University’s accelerated accounting program and a stereotype buster for number crunchers everywhere. She can’t wait to take her CPA exam, and she credits Touro’s Lander College of Arts and Sciences for teaching her all she needs to pass the test and begin her career.

“I chose Touro because I heard so many great things about the accounting department and the professors, how they really help each student succeed and help them find suitable jobs, and it’s all true,” says Morris, 20, who will graduate this summer.

She also appreciates Touro’s accelerated accounting program for its academic breadth and depth. “Finance, tax, ten different accounting classes, covering multiple angles,” she says. “Everything from government to business to nonprofit.”

Because the program is designed to be flexible, Morris is able to take night classes while working full time at a small Brooklyn-based accounting firm. She helps keep the company’s books as well as aids the staff accountants with the firm’s outside clients. “It started with an internship my first semester,” she explains, “and it turned into a full-time job.”

Since high school in her native Los Angeles, Morris has wanted to be an accountant. She loves the elegance and logic of numbers. “Always I liked math: learn the problems, solve the problems,” she says, laughing. “I always hated English classes.”

Morris looks forward to one day to being the controller of a large corporation. “I’m really excited about my future career,” she says.

Still, she understands why some may consider accounting dull. “It can be a real conversation stopper,” she acknowledges, wryly. “It’s a practical, not a passionate, career choice. But it’s not at all boring.”