Emma Johnson 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Gies College of Business

“I’m not artistic, but creatively convincing, determined, and powered by laughter & Google Calendar.”

Fun fact about yourself: When I was 13, I got my boater and snowmobiler licenses, not even four months apart!

Hometown: Grayslake, Illinois

High School: Grayslake North High School

Major: Accounting & Information Systems

Minor: N/A

Favorite Business Course: ACCY 303 – Accounting Institutions and Regulation

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

James Scholar – Served as a mentor for 2 students

Gies Peer Advising (Schedule Coordinator, Team Lead, Peer Advisor)

Sleeman Student Support Team (Promotional Team, Breakout Session/Workshop Team)

BUS 301 – Business in Action (Senior Manager)

Gies Ambassadors

Pi Beta Phi: IL Zeta Chapter (Computer Chair)

UIUC Panhellenic Kolusis Member

BDI 199 – Research Assistant

Investment Portfolio Organization

Women In Finance Academy

Awards and Honors:

James Scholar

Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honors Society

Order of Omega

Dean’s List Recipient (multiple semesters)

Stanley C. Golder Academy Seminar Member

Where have you interned during your college career? PwC – Chicago, IL; Investigations & Forensics Advance Intern

Where will you be working after graduation? PwC – Chicago, IL; Investigations & Forensics Associate

Who is your favorite business professor? One of my favorite business professors is Professor Adel Ibrahim. He taught one of my favorite accounting classes which was ACCY 410 – Advanced Financial Reporting. Professor Ibrahim made every class an “exciting rollercoaster.” When you walked into the classroom, there was no way for you to be tired. His classes not only taught me important accounting rules, but he always related our class content to how it is applied in the real world. Additionally, he would go above-and-beyond with providing his students support, even if that meant missing lunch to hold important office hours or review sessions. I am truly grateful for Professor Ibrahim’s lasting impact on my undergraduate career.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? The importance of creating effective teams. In almost every single business class I had, there was always a required group project. From all these projects and taking BADM 311 – Leading Individuals and Teams, I have been able to see how important it is to create a bond between team members. By having a strong bond, group projects generally flow easier, and members are more accountable. I know for sure that this lesson will follow me through the rest of my professional career.

What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? For any prospective student who is looking to major in a business-related field, I would say to try everything that you can and meet as many people as possible. Gies College of Business does a great job of having all undergraduate students complete core requirements that allow you to try all of the different majors. This allowed me to switch my major four times from Finance to Accounting to Accounting & Finance to finally Accounting & Information Systems and feel very confident in my choice. Secondly, I would say to meet as many people as possible since you never know where you’ll end up and who you’ll have in your classes. Connections are so valuable in the business world, and they might just end up landing you your full-time offer.

What has surprised you most about majoring in business? Something that surprised me the most about majoring in business was how connected everyone was. As a business student, you always hear about how important networking is and how connections are so important. Honestly, this always scared me as I’m a bit of an introvert when it comes to meeting new people. But the longer I was a part of Gies College of Business, I realized how natural this was and not scary; rather, you make connections everywhere even when you don’t realize it. For example, I appreciate being able to walk into the Business Instructional Facility (BIF) every day and always seeing familiar faces or joining new classes without friends but still knowing a handful of students. It never ceases to surprise me for sure, but I know these connections will be long lasting.

Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? One thing that I would do differently in the business school is try out more registered student organizations (RSOs) during my first year of college. I started college in Fall 2020, which happened to be the peak of COVID, and everything was virtual. This made it a lot more difficult to learn about the different RSOs and meet more students. During my freshman year, I was still decently involved, but I did not know about all the different organizations available to me, like the Accounting Club. So, as a first-year student, I would highly recommend trying everything you can within reason to find your smaller community on such a big campus.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? The extracurricular achievement that I’m most proud of is serving as the Schedule Coordinator of the Gies Peer Advising Program. When I first joined the Gies Peer Advising Program as a sophomore, I never would have imagined that as a senior I would be one of the Co-Coordinators. Even prior to that, I never thought I would be a part of the leadership team at all since I joined the program quite late. Through Gies Peer Advising, I have learned countless lessons on leadership, communication, and student guidance. The program has truly shaped me to be who I am today and allowed me to give back to Gies in a way that I never thought was possible. I’m so thankful for the experiences that I’ve had through the Gies Peer Advising Program and the students that I have been able to help the same way that the program helped me as a freshman.

Which classmate do you most admire? I have met so many amazing people at Gies, which makes this so difficult to determine. One person that comes to mind is Gerardo Gonzalez, better known as Gerry. I first met Gerry through rushing for business fraternities, not even realizing that we both lived in the Business Learning and Living Community, just a few doors down. When I met Gerry, I did not realize the impact he would have on me and my college experience. A little background on Gerry is that he transferred into Gies College of Business as a junior. Through his time at Gies, he made it his mission to impact the school. Not only did he graduate, but he also ended up coming back to get his Master’s in Finance this year. I truly admire how kind and hardworking Gerry is. He always gives his 100% full self to anything that he is committed to doing. He is always willing to help anyone. He’s helped me make so many tough decisions or just relax after a challenging time. I know that this will be a lifelong friendship for sure, and it truly is an honor to call him my friend. I know that he will do amazing things in the world and leave an impact.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? It would have to be my parents. As a first-generation college student, this experience was new to all of us, and they were always so supportive and helpful with anything I ever needed. My dad helped me choose my major, and my mom would give me all the support I would need after tough exams. I could not have asked for a better dynamic duo than my parents; without their support and advice I never would have ended up at Gies College of Business.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? 

1. I would love to live and work abroad. Growing up I always loved travelling and experiencing new places, so being able to work abroad at some point would be a dream come true.

2. Secondly, I want to create a lasting impact during my career. I’m not too sure what that would be as of now, but my hope is to leave something behind that makes the career I’m in better. Maybe that will be writing a novel, creating a new team, or through mentorship.

What made Emma such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

“August 2022 is when I first met Emma Johnson. She was a student in my BUS 301 Business in Action course, and she led a team of students on a semester-long consulting project that produced a marketing plan for a manufacturing company. Her teammates were the first to notice her leadership qualities, so they selected her to be their Team Leader. Soon, I was impressed by Emma’s can-do attitude that is tempered by sincere compassion. The team’s project was a success, and the client gave Emma rave reviews.

That first experience with Emma inspired me to invite her to take on a Senior Manager role, like a Teaching Assistant, the next semester. As Senior Manager, Emma helped me deliver course content and gave leadership advice to four teams of student consultants. This new role gave me the opportunity to see her as a leader of leaders. Again, her can-do attitude and compassion was immediately visible to the students she worked with. Some new characteristics were apparent, too. As a leader, she has the ability and confidence to deliver critical feedback in a positive way that is accepted favorably. And she always has a positive attitude regardless of the situation.

Now, Emma has been my student, and my Senior Manager, for 3 semesters. There are a couple of ways that she is invaluable to me. First, her foresight helps me serve my students. She is the eyes and ears of what is going on at the project level, and that helps me tailor course content to meet my students’ needs. Second, her attention to detail complements my big picture perspective, and that helps me ensure that small things are disseminated clearly and en masse to my students.

In summary, Emma is one of the rare students that is all the things that matter as a person and as a professional. A short list of attributes that come to mind when I think of Emma would be smart, critical thinker, servant leader, filled with integrity, positive outlook on life, empathetic, gritty, and adaptable. Her only fault is being a Packers fan instead of a Bears fan.”

Jeff Kurtz
Instructor
Gies College of Business 

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