About Kylie
Kylie Chiu is currently working towards achieving her undergraduate degree in the Honours Accounting and Financial Management Program at the University of Waterloo. She has completed two co-op work terms, working for MNP LLP as a Staff Accountant. In the fall of 2019, Kylie met up with a friend to discuss her future career plans and the topic of being involved in Academia was brought up. She reached out to Professor Adam Presslee and was accepted as the first student to participate in the CPMRE Academia Mentorship Program, which included shadowing and learning about what it means to be an accounting academic. Throughout the year, she attended two accounting research workshops where visiting academics presented their research. Her mentorship experience also gave her a deeper understanding of teaching and other responsibilities performed by professors.
An Interview with Kylie
What motivated you to be the first student to participate in the CPMRE Academia Mentorship Program?
Ever since I was young, I was in awe of the teaching industry. Educating individuals and sharing the knowledge that one has is such a powerful opportunity. I thought that shadowing a professor would be a perfect way to learn about being an academic. I always questioned - how does a course really come to life? What do Professors do to prepare for a class? What are the delivery strategies? There was so much that I wanted to know, and shadowing would be the perfect way to get my answers and learn something new!
What surprised you about the life of a professor?
The syllabus means a lot more than just your grade breakdown!! I was surprised to learn that much of the time spent on a course is actually in the planning stage. Professors work carefully to structure a course best suited for the students so that all can succeed. They do this while maintaining the Experiential Learning factors of the School of Accounting and Finance. From my shadowing experience, I learned that much of teaching comes from one's philosophy. A Professor in one course may teach in a different style compared to another, but in the end, the final task is to deliver and educate the students.
What benefits did you gain through this experience?
A benefit that I gained through this experience were the connections I was able to build with Professor Presslee, other SAF faculty members, and professors from other universities. Each individual had their own drive and passion that allowed them to succeed in the Academia world but also had their own struggles and challenges within the research industry. Another benefit I gained was the ability to open up and understand topics from different perspectives - although this comes with experience, I was so fortunate to have the resources available at hand to help me through this learning process.
What challenges did you face in completing the experience?
The mentorship program came with little to no challenges. In the beginning, the main difficulty I faced was trying to understand the message that each researcher was conveying - that being the thesis and topic of each research paper. Being a 2nd year student, performance management was a new topic for me and so everything at first was hard to grasp. Professor Preslee broke down the topics piece by piece and was able to help me develop an overall picture of each paper. We spent time prior to the workshop discussing the topic of the research paper and later debriefed after the workshop on the important takeaways. With so many resources and help at reach, I was able to overcome the challenges so quickly!
What would she say to another student who is thinking of participating in the mentorship program?
This experience was definitely worth every second, especially if you’re interested in the Academia industry! As intimidating as professors may seem, they are really friendly and here to support us students. Being a professor is more than just creating and marking exams, it is also about being a mentor for students and guiding them to succeed in all aspects of learning! This shadowing experience gave me an opportunity to attend research workshops, make connections with various Educators and also learn about Academia in UW. This mentorship program has made me so much more excited to dive into the teaching industry!