Five students received awards Sept. 14 during the annual accounting awards reception held in Stapleton Lounge in Le Mans Hall at Saint Mary's College.
The students were recognized for their achievements within the accounting department at the College.
The awards were given to one junior and four seniors to recognize outstanding achievement in the principles of accounting, intermediate accounting, public accounting, accounting leadership and personal and corporate tax.
Junior Peggy Dobihal was the recipient of the Bridget Anderson/KPMG Award. Dobihal said the award was given to the student with the highest grade in both principles of financial accounting and principles of managerial accounting.
"I feel truly blessed that God has given me the intelligence necessary to succeed here at Saint Mary's, and I am honored that I was chosen to receive this award," Dobihal said.
Senior Betsy Reed received the PricewaterhouseCooper Award for accounting leadership.
According to Reed, she received the award due to her involvement on campus, within the Business and Economic Department and her strong grade point average (GPA).
"It was an honor to win an award and be in the presence of professors and their alumnae committed to academic success and who have been successful in their accounting careers," Reed said.
In addition, senior Maureen Temchuk won the Deloitte Award.
Temchuk said the award was for the student who had the highest average grade in two semesters of intermediate accounting.
"It was a great honor to receive this award because it was a validation of all the hard work I put into both my major and the intermediate courses," Temchuk said.
Senior Marianne Jones was awarded the Crow Horwath Award for the highest grades in personal and corporate tax.
"It was a really nice ceremony, and it was a great honor to receive an award from the accounting program," Jones said.
Senior Amanda Gajor was the recipient of the Ernst & Young award.
Gajor said the award was for the student who was most likely to succeed in public accounting. The student who received the award was the most well rounded who performed well across the board in accounting classes.
"It was exciting to know that all the hard work I put in was recognized," Gajor said.
She said the award pushes her to succeed.
"It gave me motivation," Gajor said. "It makes me want to succeed more because I have people behind me believing in me."
Though only a few students receive awards each year, the majority of the accounting students attend the reception, Jones said.
"The Saint Mary's accounting awards ceremony is a great tradition," Temchuk said. "It allows others to recognize those students who have gone above and beyond in their time at Saint Mary's. The faculty is devoted to their students and love giving outstanding student achievement the opportunity to shine. It's that devotion that makes our school such a special place."
