Eleven rising high school seniors joined us in July for our annual Whitmire Accelerating Students into the Accounting Profession (ASAP) Camp. These students lived on campus for several days to test the waters of accounting as a potential career.

The camp was developed several years ago both to encourage more gifted young people to join the profession and to share how MSU and the Adkerson School of Accountancy can help them get a strong start.

During the four-day camp, participants heard from Matthews, Cutrer and Lindsay and toured PACCAR Engine Company and the MSU Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach; and they learned of the wide variety of career paths offered by accounting. The first step along those paths being higher education, they were also offered advice on admissions, scholarships and successfully transitioning to college life. The central activity, which provided hands-on experience, was a “Shark Tank”-style project, which began with ASAC and MSU Library staff-led lessons in basic accounting and research procedures. Working in teams, the participants concluded their projects with presentations before a panel of judges.

“The group project presentations always impress me,” remarks camp director Trina Pollan, ASAC’s Academic Coordinator. “From group formation to project assignment and research to presentations – all in a 16-hour time span – the students lead perfectly.”

Following their presentations were opportunities for the students make connections and ask questions – a lunch with ASAC faculty members and a networking event with industry representatives. Capping the project, awards were announced at an etiquette dinner.

Camp participants are helped along the way by their older counterparts. Three MSU accounting students served as counselors throughout, with more assisting with the PACCAR and Matthews, Cutrer and Lindsay events. Senior Maddie Rushing of Olive Branch, MS, has experienced ASAP from both sides.

“I remember going into my senior year of high school with a vague idea of what I wanted to do,” she recalls. “I was good at problem solving and math, so I entertained the idea of majoring in accounting. I thought ASAP Camp would be a good way to decide…. By the end, I had fallen in love with accounting and knew that I wanted to pursue the career.”

She continues, “As a counselor, I wanted to help campers discover their passion for the career just as I did. During the camp, I helped answer questions they had about the Adkerson School of Accountancy and why they should attend State. I also helped campers in creating business proposals. ASAP Camp is a great opportunity for high schoolers to learn more about the various career paths accounting has to offer.”

The high school students participating in the 2025 ASAP Camp were (back, from left): Cortez Howard of Jackson; Jac Kader of Dallas, GA; Larry Gariepy of Madison, AL; (middle, from left) Madelyn Ruda of Slidell, LA; Amari Harrison of Meridian; Anna Elison of Woodland, MS; Adalyn Vandiver of Pontotoc, MS; (middle, in green) Millie Ann Paczak of Madison, MS; (front, from left) Zyquria McClendon of Jackson, MS; Anna Box of Jackson and JaLisa Jackson of Clinton, MS.

Alumnus Don Whitmire and wife Peggy, whose endowment supports the camp, with former camper and 2025 counselor Maddie Rushing