offered a simple piece of advice: Sit in the front. “I took her advice to heart. I didn’t want to be a face lost in a
crowd of 300 students,” Spillman said. “Even in smaller classes, I wanted to make sure when professors called on me, they knew exactly who I was.” In her time as an undecided major, Spillman asked many questions and observed as much as possible to try to find a clearer path for her career. When she walked into her first accounting class, she knew she found exactly what she was looking for.
Te class was taught by fellow OSCPA member Rachel Cox,
CPA, an instructor of professional practice at OSU. Cox recalls her first impression of Spillman. “It was an 8:00 a.m. Monday-morning class in a room packed with 250 students, but Francesca’s dedication toward her education and diligence toward her studies stood out to me immediately,” Cox said. “She went above and beyond to make sure she fully grasped the material we were learning.” “Accounting made sense to me, and I loved how [Cox]
taught,” Spillman said. “I thought, ‘Tis is me. Tis fits me.’” With her compass now pointing in the right direction,
Spillman proudly declared her major in accounting and went on to graduate as a 4.0 student with honors in December of 2020. She was selected as a Top 5 Accounting Student and the OSU Spears School of Business Fall 2020 Orange Gown Honoree – a highly-regarded achievement awarded to just one student in the entire college each semester. “[Spillman] is one of the most kind, humble and compassionate people I know,” Cox said. “Her story is inspiring, and I know that the entire accounting faculty thinks very highly of her.”
Focusing on the future Spillman is currently completing her fourth internship
with Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores headquarters in Oklahoma City and will begin her first semester of graduate school at OSU this summer. After graduating in May 2022, she plans to begin preparing for the CPA Exam. “I came to understand that having a CPA license is the
golden certification for accountants,” Spillman said. “As a non- traditional student, I realized I’m not getting any younger, so I know I need to earn my CPA now.” Spillman’s favorite quote from favorite author Ellen G.
White well defines her pathway to CPA, “Aim high and spare no pains to reach the standard.” “It is a mountain to climb to get a CPA license, but it’s attainable, and I’m learning from others along the way,” Spillman said.
Te accounting curriculum is designed to challenge students to uphold the prestige of the profession, but there are added challenges for nontraditional students, like Spillman, who have different circumstances and life situations. “Being a full-time student doesn’t lessen my duties as a wife and mother,” Spillman said. “Te biggest challenge as a non- traditional student is juggling life along the way.” For Spillman, a strong support system is crucial. Her husband and children are understanding and encouraging of her academic journey, and she makes it a point to balance time spent between her family and on her education. “I want to be supportive of them too,” Spillman said. “I
don’t want them to remember that I was too busy to have time for my family.” Financial balance was another hurdle Spillman needed to
overcome. With a mortgage and other financial obligations, Spillman did not want her education to become another deterrent.
“I had two goals: I wanted to receive an education and graduate debt free,” Spillman said. “Everything else I have received have been bonuses and additional blessings for which I am very grateful.”
8 CPAFOCUS July/August 2021
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