Trevor Walto (2007)

It was great to hear from Trevor recently. He says,

"My wife and I are getting ready to celebrate our second anniversary in about a month. We are attending and involved at Brookside Baptist in Brookfield. It is great to see God’s hand in and to be a part of a growing church.

"I recently finished up my Masters Degree in accounting (MPA) at UW Whitewater which gave me the 150 credit hours I needed to sit for the CPA exam. I then spent the summer studying full-time for the exam using the Becker review program. It is unbelievable the amount of information that one needs to take in to be prepared properly. I took the Regulation section in May, which I passed, and took the remaining three sections in July and August. I just found out last week that I passed all of them except Auditing on my first try. I will retake that section in November before the new changes go into effect.

"I am now starting my fourth week at Deloitte and am working in the tax department in the Milwaukee offices. I am still learning a lot of what my job will entail but generally we work with expatriates and inpatriates both in a tax preparation role and in a tax advisory role.

I consider myself very blessed to be in the position I am right now. As I worked through my Masters program at Whitewater, there were many other students that I talked to that were having trouble finding jobs. God has blessed me with a job in this tough economy and not only that but a job at one of the Big Four accounting firms!

"It is amazing to look back over all of my challenging experiences and see God’s guiding hand. I had my own plans for my career and how it would progress but God’s plan was so much better. If I had not let Him work and tried to do things my own way I may not have experienced it."

Kristen Kowalcyk ('07)

Kristen is moving to the Chattanooga, Tennessee area from her home in Michigan to serve as the Administrative Assistant/Office Manager for the Executive Director of AACS (American Association of Christian Schools).

"[The trip down] be an experience" Kristen says. "[T]his past weekend, TN got 2-3 inches of snow/slush/ice. There is barely any snow in MI right now, but it is cold."

We praise the Lord for this wonderful opportunity for Kristen.

Michael O'Neal ('07)

Michael writes:

"On St Patrick’s Day, we were blessed with a 6 lbs 11 oz baby boy!! Young Micah Paul has truly been a blessing from the Lord as we have watched him grow over the past four months. We look forward to what God has for our family as we continue to seek His guidance.

"Since graduation, I have been working for the Defense Finance & Accounting Service in Cleveland, OH. I was hired into a program called the Leaders in Motion program, and have had several opportunities to perform various accounting functions for the many Defense agencies (mainly working with the Navy & the Marine Corps). After a few months with the agency, I was given the opportunity to travel to San Diego, CA for three months to work on the transition of the accounting workload from that site to Cleveland. This past May, I was able to attend the American Society of Military Comptroller’s National Professional Development Institute in San Antonio, TX. At this conference, I was presented with the Meritorious Performance Award in the Accounting & Finance category. I am also pursuing my MA Accounting degree from Cleveland State University, and preparing to sit for the CPA exam in the hopefully near future."

"My wife & I have also been actively serving at the Cleveland Baptist Church under Pastor Kevin Folger. I have been serving in the Audio\Video ministry running the live webcasts, preparing the “Challenge For Today” radio broadcasts, and running the sound board equipment. My wife has been working in the deaf ministry, singing special music, working in the nursery, and helping run video cameras."

What a blessing, Mike! It's been a joy for the Business faculty to keep up with Mike and Betsy (Kiper) and to hear from them regularly.

Jessica (Aucoin) Asire ('07)

On February 10, 2009, Jessica's husband, Matt, left for eight weeks of basic training for the US Coast Guard. Jessica wrote: "Our only way of communication during this time was by written letter. WOW! That was tough."

Matt graduated on April 3, and is now stationed on the USCGC (US Coast Guard Cutter) Sturgeon Bay. The Asires live at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, NY.

Jessica testified: "God really has been good to us. We did not have to search for a church! My church [in New Hampshire] supports missionaries in NYC. Pastor Matt Recker is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Manhattan. We were so thankful that the Lord had this in place for us. I know so many people who move and spend weeks/months/years searching for the right church. Praise God for his provision in having one here for us already."

Jon McCarrell ('07)

Jon graduated on April 25th with an MBA from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here's a picture of Jon with his fiancee Julane on his right and his sister Jorie in front of Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. Jon and Julane's wedding date is June 6th and he promises some more pictures!

Jon says: "I will be transitioning from my current Financial Analyst position to become a Staff Accountant at a regional electrical contracting company."

Christina (Adam) Monge (’07)

Christina and her husband Justin moved near State College, PA this year where Christina serves as an administrative assistant at Manito, Inc., an alternative high school, and Justin teaches at Centre County Christian Academy. They also traveled to Israel in 2008.

Jonathan McCarrell ('07)

Jonathan and his fiance, Julane Foster, will be married on June 6, 2009. He anticipates graduating with his MBA in April.

Following is Jonathan's quiz question:

T/F Although the Dow Jones has suffered historically bad losses over the past two weeks, it has also had one of its largest one-day gains in history. -- correct answer: True

Kristen Kowalcyk ('07)

Kristen turned 22 years old this summer (pictured with her brother here, also 22! :^))

Kristen's quiz question:

Which of the following is not a result of the rejection of the $700 billion economic rescue plan on September 29, 2008?

A. Stock market dropped 777 points
B. Credit market tightened
C. JP Morgan Chase bought Washington Mutual -- correct answer
D. The Libor rate increased

Jessica (Aucoin) Asire ('07)

Jessica, Matt, and Zeta (2 weeks old) pictured here.

Pray for the Asires as Matt continues his pursuit of US Coast Guard Officer Candidate School.

Autumn Byers ('07)

... one of Autumn Byers and Clint Ifland's engagement pictures on Autumn's Facebook account! Sharp couple!

Erik Eloe ('07)

In the May/June 2008 issue of Baptist Bulletin, a General Association of Regular Baptist Churches publication, Erik and Erika were cited as a good examples of servants in a new church plant in innercity Chicago--River North Baptist Church.

According to the article, Erik is both song leader and "Caleb" -- the helper that Pastor Bill Branks was praying for.

Thanks for being good testimonies, Erik and Erika.

Autumn Byers ('07)

At the May 2007 Commencement service, Autumn received the Department of Business's first Student Achievement Award. A statement of Autumn's qualifications as stated by the faculty follows.

"The Department of Business recognizes Miss Autumn Rose Byers as the 2007 Student Achievement Award recipient. As a Marketing Management major, Miss Byers earned a grade point average of 3.58 while maintaining an active extracurricular schedule and gaining the respect of her peers and professors. Miss Byers served as a Team Captain both in soccer and softball, participating all four years in intercollegiate athletics while pursuing her education. She serves in the music and children’s ministries at the First Baptist Church of Hartford, Wisconsin. Her fellow seniors gave her strong endorsement when senior capstone project Team Leaders were nominated. Miss Byers performed admirably in this function. The faculty is pleased to announce this year’s recipient of the Student Achievement Award, Miss Autumn Rose Byers."

The Department of Business in collaboration with The Wall Street Journal offers distinctive recognition of an exceptional business graduating senior at Maranatha Baptist Bible College. The recipient has demonstrated excellence in academics and spiritual leadership, and holds great promise as a future Christian business professional.

The graduate receives a commemorative award medallion, a one-year subscription to The Wall Street Journal, and publication with other winners in a full-page announcement in the nation’s number one business newspaper.

Brian Teets ('07)

Brian serves as Business Manager for Harry Totters customs. He works to establish the overall business direction and operation of the Totters business portfolio. Brian previously held positions with Xspedius Communications in O'Fallon, Missouri where he was involved in software development and IT support.

Source: http://www.harrytotterscustoms.com/bios.html

Jotham Achenbach ('07)

Jotham and Shasta (Mikolowski) at Jon Maize's (2006 Business Management graduate) wedding! The sharp engaged couple is looking forward to their own Big Day soon! Jotham is now a personal banker in Michigan.

Jessica (Aucoin) Asire ('07)

Jessica and Matt are enjoying life in South Carolina -- wait, that doesn't look like South Carolina!

Jonathan McCarrell ('07)

Corey Pfaffe and Jonathan met up in Grand Rapids, MI, to attend the Maranatha men's basketball regional tournament. Jonathan is working on his advanced accounting degree, taking Auditing right now. Dr. Pfaffe taught Auditing at Maranatha in the fall 2007 semester, our first offering of the new course, using the same textbook by William Messier that Jonathan is using.

Maranatha defeated Lincoln Christian and number one seed Kuyper College before losing in the final to Grace Bible College.

Trevor Waltho II ('07)

As an accountant at heart, I am warmed to hear Trevor tell of his internship at Kolb and Company, CPAs ... Trevor says, "I have finished the third week of my internship at Kolb+Co. So far everything has been a little overwhelming." :^)

"Everyone at Kolb has been unbelievably helpful. ... I was told to expect a few 80 hour weeks in March or April!"

I'm confident that Trevor's going to do a great job! Mr. Ron Miller (who taught many of Trevor's accounting classes) and I (his Auditing professor) will be excited to hear.

Jessica (Aucoin) Asire (December '07)

Jessica and Matt with family at their January 2008 wedding...

Jessica's looking for employment in Greenville, SC. I'm sure that she'll make ample use of her "What Color is Your Parachute?" book from Business Strategy Senior Capstone!

Jonathan McCarrell ('07)

Jonathan McCarrell scored well on the GMAT test and was accepted into the MBA program at Grand Valley State University, beginning classes on January 7th, 2008. He says, "I will be taking Auditing, Advanced Accounting, and Financial Policy for the Manager. I have worked with an advisor to ensure that upon graduation, I will have satisfied the academic requirements to sit for the CPA exam in the State of Michigan."

Micheal O'Neal ('07)

Mike writes:

"My wife and I just returned from a two month stay out in San Diego. I was put on a special project transitioning workload from our San Diego Accounting Field Site to the Cleveland Center...

"While out in San Diego, we found a great Philippino church which we were able to minister in. It is so great to be able to travel and meet other believers from all walks of life and immediately share the common bond of Christ with them. Now that we are back to our home in Cleveland, we have begun to get involved in our local church - Cleveland Baptist Church."