Going into my sophomore year of Media Scholars as an undecided business major, I was interested in pursuing an opportunity within the field of business for my practicum requirement. TerpTax was a perfect way to fill this interest.  For those who do not know, TerpTax is a free tax preparation service provided by the University of Maryland. It falls under the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program by the Internal Revenue Service. Under the guidance of Professor Samuel Handwerger, CPA, student volunteers meet with clients that are mostly comprised of international students as well as low to mid-income individuals from in and around the College Park community. As a volunteer, I had to complete four IRS certification exams prior to meeting with any clients, which made me familiar with common tax codes and tax preparation steps. For about two months, I met with six clients per week at Van Munching Hall in the Robert H. Smith School of Business. At the beginning of the appointments, would briefly interview the client in order to get to know a little bit about them and how they would be filing. I then would go over all of the documents that they have provided and walk them through what I was doing on the TaxSlayer online tax preparation software. I would be asking the client questions continually throughout the process as well as answering what ever questions they would have for me. At the end of the appointments, the clients would see the amount of their return and I would instruct them with their next steps on how to electronically file.

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I was made aware of TerpTax as a practicum opportunity at the Sophomore Scholars Showcase that I attended during the second semester of my freshman year. After listening to older Media Scholars, (particularly Media Scholars that are also business majors) I knew that TerpTax was the right opportunity for me. I would advise every freshman Media scholar to make good use of the Sophomore Showcase because it does a very effective job of opening your eyes to all of the opportunities that are available. Being able to hear from students that participated in all different types of practicums was extremely beneficial to me and I would imagine is beneficial to all that attend.

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I learned a great deal from this opportunity with TerpTax. I would say that the most valuable thing I took from this experience is my growth as a person. TerpTax placed me in a new and somewhat uncomfortable environment in which I had to adapt and grow. Compared to my educational experiences so far and my upbringing, this is the most diverse environment that I have ever been a part of. My hometown is primarily white and my business classes so far at UMD have been comprised mostly of white males (fitting the stereotype). Until coming to TerpTax, I would say that most people I have met over the course of my life have come from similar backgrounds and upbringings. Here, however, I met with people from totally different walks of life. I had clients the same age as me as well as clients in their 70's. I met with international students from places like Brazil, India, China, and Iran. Being able to meet with a very diverse clientele, in my opinion, made me a much more well rounded individual. I feel that I grew up in a more sheltered environment, almost in a bubble where I was only exposed to people that are similar to me. This experience, however, allowed me to become a more open-minded person in general. After meeting with and talking to people from wildly different backgrounds, I feel that my view on the world and people in general has been broadened in a very beneficial way. Another valuable thing that I learned from this experience is about my own interests and passions. From being involved in a hands-on tax preparation service, I feel that I have a much better grasp on the tax division of the accounting field. TerpTax impacted my feelings toward the field of accounting in a different way than the two accounting classes that I have taken so far, and I am very grateful for that. Finally, I obviously also learned a significant deal about tax preparation and how to file income taxes, which is very useful knowledge to have.

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Another reason I am very grateful for this opportunity is because I think that it greatly improved my time management skills. Not only did I have to balance my regular 16 credit coursework with the 6 hours per week that I committed to TerpTax, but the actual time at TerpTax was by no means relaxing. I would be scheduled one client per hour for the three hour sessions, and commonly an appointment would run the full time up until the next client's meeting. This means that I had to look over a client's entire set of documents and forms at the same time as I interviewed them just as they sit down next to me. The first few weeks were stressful because it was all very new to me and I had to do a lot of thinking quickly on my feet. Once I became more familiar with filing the returns and got comfortable with all the different documents, I was able to calm down and not get as stressed.

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