Aaron Slaughter’10

当10岁的亚伦·斯劳特不在Withum指导年轻员工的时候, 作为审计高级经理，哪些是他工作的主要部分, he’s doing his best to make sure the firm’s clients “sleep well at night.”

在毕业后的10年里，这 会计-经济学 dual major has seen his responsibilities shift from being in the weeds of accounting work to focusing on client service. 回答财务总监和财务总监关于运营的问题, 提供有关效率的建议, 甚至进行特别调查, 这些都是日常日程的一部分吗.

For a senior manager in the audit department, developing and maintaining relationships is paramount. 公共会计, 屠杀说, is a balancing act between keeping your clients and your firm happy, 这就要求你有能力应付可计费的工作, 招聘工作, 员工培训. It means celebrating the accomplishments of your team with your team, 也意味着在他们绝望的时候保护他们免受愤怒. Slaughter attributes his ability to handle such a demanding job to his time spent on the Hill. There, he had to balance schoolwork, football practice, and social events.

虽然会计师的生活听起来很有挑战性, 这并不是说没有福利. 在他为客户服务的角色中, he may find himself on a plane heading to Las Vegas for a black-tie event or rubbing elbows with celebrities in the entertainment industry at award shows.

Slaughter and his firm pride themselves on being more than “just accountants.“在Withum，我们的目标是成为您值得信赖的顾问。! We’re constantly asking how can we add value to our clients’ lives?他说. Withum有一个强大的导师计划, 每个员工都有一名职业教练, 谁的目的是帮助专业成长. 教练帮助你设定目标, 提供建设性的反馈, 如果员工犯错，他们会提供帮助. 斯劳特在律所的10年里, 他是无数团队成员的官方职业教练, 他还非正式地把其他人置于他的羽翼之下.

“It’s extremely fulfilling to watch the lightbulb turn on for someone you’ve been training. I’d get the same feeling when helping a younger player with the playbook at McDaniel.他说, 他补充说，他是团队合作的巨大支持者, 就像他作为防守后卫的时候一样 绿色的恐怖. Slaughter and fellow teammate Matt Cahill ‘10 were the first ever three-time captains of a 金沙js6038 sports team.

“当队长教会了我如何激励别人. 它教会了我，一种方式很难适合所有人, and it was our job as leaders to find a way to bring out the best in everyone around us,他说, adding that he uses the same concepts when dealing with the all of the moving parts and personalities at work, 无论是一个不满意的客户需要额外的照顾, 一个渴望完成项目的老板, 或者一个没有经验的员工寻求指导.

It was his time on the Hill that prepared him for what was to come.

“The ability to connect and find common ground with just about anyone is a skill that I honed during my time at McDaniel, 直到今天，它还是有回报的,”

“Witnessing the professional growth of your team is incredibly rewarding, 这让我每天都想要更多,他说. 作为一名高级经理, Slaughter is one of the faces of the firm and is the liaison between both clients/potential clients and the audit teams. He participates in recruiting for Withum, including being a regular at McDaniel’s annual 面试一天. Being the team lead can range from being a teacher one day to a board-meeting presenter the next.

“我最自豪的是我通过了注册会计师考试, 我正在我的专业领域工作, and that I’ve been able to leverage skills that I have learned at McDaniel to be successful at my firm,斯劳特说. “无论是学习如何处理多重人格, 或者时间管理, 或者如何度过充满挑战的时期，克服障碍, or simply recognizing my own strengths and how to parlay them into me being the best employee and person I can be…I learned all of that during my years at 金沙js6038.”

Slaughter arrived on campus in the fall of 2006 as a carefree 17-year-old with one goal – to make it to the NFL. Signing up for Principles of 会计 was an attempt at having a backup in case the big leagues fell through, but little did he know that he’d meet a professor who would change is life, 苏珊·米尔斯坦名誉教授.

“有时我会停下来对自己说，我是怎么走到这一步的? 然后我突然想到，这一切都是从《金沙js6038》开始的,斯劳特说. “Professor Milstein was the toughest professor I’ve had at any level of education. 她在学业上推动了我，我的事业都是她的功劳. 在认识她之前，我甚至不知道注册会计师是什么.

“I’ve said this before, and I’ll never stop saying it – she changed my life.”

还有其他教授: 凯文·麦金太尔 经济学奖, 朱莉Routzahn for 会计, John Olsh 经济学奖, and Rick Carpenter for Kinesiology. The two courses that had the greatest influence on his growth are Psychology of Sport with Carpenter and Money and Financial Markets with McIntyre.

“I was blown away at how much better of an athlete and teammate this class made me,他在谈到《金沙js6038》时说. “从如何为比赛日做准备，我们谈到了一切, 如何在休赛期训练, 领导的意义, 你应该如何进行电影学习——几乎是所有的事情.”

Slaughter joked that he could feel himself “becoming smarter” in Money and Financial Markets.

“I use the knowledge I learned in this class every single day of my life,他说. “Everything from how the global markets impact daily life to debates about fiscal policy.”

“有时我会停下来对自己说，我是怎么走到这一步的? 然后我突然想到，这一切都是从《金沙js6038》开始的.”

Still the most important lesson Slaughter learned at McDaniel is how to interact with people.

“The ability to connect and find common ground with just about anyone is a skill that I honed during my time at McDaniel, 直到今天，它还是有回报的,他说, 他补充说，他也很珍惜自己踢球的经历. “我结交了一辈子的朋友，玩得很开心, while leaving my all out there on the field every Saturday for the Green and Gold.”

认识到导师的力量和重要性, 他对自己一生中遇到的许多导师并不感到害羞. 金沙js6038金沙js6038，以及 受托人维克·麦克蒂尔 ’69, has been there for him since they first met at a scholarship luncheon in 2009. 那个春日, Slaughter’s scholarship donor unfortunately could not make the trip to campus, 于是他在麦克蒂尔的桌子旁拉了把椅子.

The two began swapping stories of what it meant to play for the 绿色的恐怖, 他们的专业选择, 以及作为卡罗尔县的一名年轻黑人意味着什么. 不为人知的屠杀, McTeer would become more than just a mentor to him – he has been 一种激励, 一个啦啦队长, 一个教练, 一个“temperature-check,以及无价的知识财富. Ten plus years later, and McTeer and Slaughter still regularly talk. Slaughter even makes of point of sitting with McTeer at every Board of Trustee meeting for the college.

Looking back, he advises students to “…be kind to everyone, befriend professors, and GO TO CLASS.” He also encourages students to try everything that the college has to offer – whether it’s a club or class or sport or charitable activity. “That’s the beauty of going to a liberal arts institution,他说. “在你的生命中，你可能再也没有机会尝试新事物了, 可能会摔个稀巴烂, and the stakes be low enough where you can dust yourself off and try something different.”