Biography

Hello, my name is Temple’s Jace Park.  I am a Sophomore majoring in Accounting and MIS at Temple Fox School of Business.  I moved from South Korea about nine years ago and have never gone back.  I live in Montgomery County.  I decided to commute to main campus, taking Temple Ambler’s shuttle bus the last two years to save my family a substantial amount of money.  I have a twin brother, also attending Temple University.  We have been taking the same courses since day one of our college years; however, that is starting to change as we begin heading down a similar but a different path to our professional career life.

Even though commuting is time consuming and at times hectic, I learned to better my time management and am now able to sleep more comfortably in an uncomfortable environment.  This is also a great way to meet new people and improve my networking skills.  I am currently an Ambassador of Ascend, an Accounting Student Professional Organization.  I grew fond of this organization because it helped me become more professional and provided networking events to meet campus recruiters.  Through this organization, I was fortunate enough to be accepted to Elko and Associates‘ leadership program after my Freshman year, Summer of 2012.  From Elko, I took a part in hands on experience with the audit practice and had chances to speak with many associates about their experiences in the business world.  I participated in PwC’s Learn for the Future Program which focused on professional development program.  From this event, I was able to learn the importance of teamwork, improved my leadership skills, and gained more knowledge about the firm.  I will be attending PwC’s Explore program on November 30, 2012.

I am very happy and proud to announce that beginning next semester, Spring 2013, I will be interning with Johnson and Johnson as an Accounting and Finance Co-op for six months.  I will be able to experience a business life and network with many associates along the way, which will be a great help to my professional career.  Even though I will have to leave Temple for a semester as well as Ascend, I believe that from this co-op I will be able to differentiate myself from my other students.

There are many people that focus on getting good grades to get a job.  Grades are important but I believe that it is your personality that counts the most.  As many have said, ‘Grades will get you interviews, but your personality will get you the job.”  Everyday I am trying to be more and more personable and improve my networking skills.  It is easy to be book smart, but hard to be people smart.