2025 Scholarship Winners

I’m thrilled to introduce this year’s Excel University Scholarship recipients! These awards are made possible by the generous support of the Excel University Alumni Association. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to make this program a reality for the past 10 years.

This was a very competitive scholarship year with many applicants! Thanks to all of the students who applied, I know you have bright futures ahead.

The selected recipients stand out among their peers, and are terrific examples of the type of accounting student that the scholarship program was designed to assist. They are wonderful representations of the future of our profession. They are smart, hard-working, highly recommended by their professors, have incredible GPAs, intend to be CPAs, and I was impressed by their accomplishments and service.

Congratulations to the 2025 Excel University Scholarship winners!

• Winner of the Excel University Academic Merit Scholarship: Kyle
• Winner of the Excel University Skill Builder Scholarship: Ben

As part of the scholarship application, I asked for a short essay Interesting Ways I’ve Used Excel. I’d like to share portions of these essays below.

Kyle

While attending school, Kyle is pursuing a Master of Accounting (MAcc) at Kennesaw State University, following his B.B.A. in Accounting. He has interned at Ernst & Young (Audit), BDO (Tax), Kirschner & Company (Accounting), Maxair-Mechanical (Accounting), and the City of Douglasville (Human Resources). Kyle is also a member of the KSU Economic Policy Club and History Club, coaches marathon and ultra-marathon runners by designing training plans, and intends to become a CPA after graduation.

His accounting professor notes that Kyle excels due to his curiosity and strong work ethic, enhanced by his extensive work experience from full-time jobs and multiple internships. Kyle’s discipline shines through his transformation into an ultramarathon runner, having lost 65 lbs. and won a 52-mile race in about 11 hours, teaching him about consistency and hard work. His crisp writing and drive to learn beyond requirements will serve him well as a CPA.

Here are a few highlights from his essay:

One of the most useful ways I have leveraged Excel is for budgeting. Rather than relying on generic budgeting apps, I created my own customized Excel spreadsheet tailored to my income, expenses, and savings goals. By using built-in formulas, I can automatically track spending categories, calculate savings percentages, and visualize my financial progress with charts.

Another creative way I have used Excel is for tracking my marathon training. Preparing for a marathon requires careful planning, and Excel helps me organize my running schedule, mileage, and progress. I set up a calendar-style spreadsheet where I log my daily runs, distance, pace, and even how I feel after each workout. I also use conditional formatting to highlight days when I meet or exceed my running goals, which keeps me motivated.

Beyond budgeting and fitness, another fun and creative way I have used Excel is for planning vacations. I built a travel itinerary template that includes flight details, hotel reservations, daily sightseeing plans, and a cost breakdown. By organizing all my travel information in one place, I can ensure that my trips run smoothly. I also use Excel’s currency conversion formulas to calculate travel expenses in different countries, making it easier to budget for international trips.

Ben

While attending school, Ben is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting at the University of Southern California. He balances academics with roles as a Business Analyst at Rise Consulting, Financial Consultant at Tamid Group, and member of Trojan Investing Society, plus prior leadership as Teen Director at Operation Snowball. He has gained professional experience through internships at Sigma Health (incoming Business Analyst) and Cole, Martin & Co (accounting firm).

His accounting professor highlights Ben’s standout performance in her introductory financial accounting course, where he excels as a freshman among upperclassmen through impeccable preparation and active engagement. Ben demonstrates strong problem-solving by connecting accounting methods to broader business contexts, such as investor assessments of profitability. His initiative in roles at RISE Consulting, Sigma Health, and Bain & Company’s Consulting Kickstart Program underscores his intelligence, organization, and goal-oriented nature.

Here are a few highlights from his essay:

This sparked my interest in exploring the change in playstyle in the NBA through statistics. I gathered three different datasets: NBA statistics since 2005, Chicago Bulls statistics since 2005, and team statistics from the 2023-2024 NBA season and put each dataset into an excel spreadsheet. Through comparing different statistics amongst different teams and/or different years, I was able to create line charts, scatterplots, and pivot tables that displayed clear evidence of a change in playstyle in the NBA.

One area of basketball that seemed to change significantly is shot selection and efficiency. For example, the “Average Three Point Attempts Per Game” graph displays a strong, positive linear relationship between the year of the NBA season and the average number of three point shots. The data reached a low of 16 attempts in 2005 and reached a maximum of 35.2 attempts in 2021. Looking at the graph, there is a steeper uprising slope starting around 2012. Using my background NBA knowledge, I related this time period to the beginning of Stephen Curry’s prime seasons.

Secondly, my excel data displayed how turning over the ball is less costly in the modern NBA playstyle. It is known that having a high points per game usually correlates to having a successful season. Additionally, basketball coaches preach the message that turnovers in a game are costly, and can be the difference between winning and losing. Thus, I wanted to explore the extent to which turnovers affect points per game to truly see how costly turning the ball over is. The graph displays a moderate negative correlation between turnovers and points per game. Also, only 15.25% of the variation in turnovers per game can be explained by its linear relationship with points per game.

Once again, congratulations to our scholarship winners!

Again … a big THANK YOU to the Excel University Alumni Association members because your enrollments support this scholarship program!