Emma Johnson has always loved numbers and puzzles — a combination of interests that led her to the accounting major in the University of Montevallo’s Stephens College of Business. After moving to the city of Montevallo from Meridian, Mississippi, she was excited to attend school just 10 minutes away from her home.
“I really enjoyed the small size campus” Johnson said. “I knew I could walk to any class I had to go to, versus a bigger school where you literally have to drive everywhere in traffic, or it takes you 30 minutes to walk.”
Although this is her junior year, Johnson is already a senior credit-wise. Post-graduation, she plans on getting her Master of Accountancy degree (MAcc) with the ultimate goal of going into the forensic accounting field, where accountants use analytical skills to investigate financial transactions of a person or business. Forensic accountants are often relied upon as experts in legal cases that deal with financial fraud or embezzlement.
“A lot of people have never heard of forensic accounting, which surprises me,” Johnson said. “Usually, you go work for a government agency or the FBI. If there’s money missing anywhere and it’s not just a simple error somewhere, forensic accountants go back through and check everything.”
Johnson has received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship and the Academic Excellence Scholarship. These scholarships have helped her pay for school semester by semester.
Johnson is secretary of UM’s chapter of Phi Chi Theta, a co-ed professional business and economics fraternity. She also attends Baptist Campus Ministries often. One of her favorite things about Montevallo is her good relationships with her professors due to small class sizes.
“I really like the idea of being able to go to a professor or see them in the hallway and just say, ‘Hey, I’m confused. Do you have a second to help me out with this?’ And they actually have time for you.”
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