{"id":5055,"date":"2012-12-07T10:22:32","date_gmt":"2012-12-07T16:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=5055"},"modified":"2015-11-12T08:28:52","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T14:28:52","slug":"an-unexpected-detour-didnt-stop-this-grad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/an-unexpected-detour-didnt-stop-this-grad\/","title":{"rendered":"An unexpected detour didn\u2019t stop this grad"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
Otoniel Encarnacion<\/dt>\n
Degree: BBA in Accounting and Finance<\/dd>\n
Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic<\/dd>\n
It\u2019s a fact: He loves to bike during the summer and is training to ride from Milwaukee to Madison with his younger brother.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Otoniel Encarnacion was just finishing his senior year at Milwaukee\u2019s South Division High School and getting ready to go to college when his family\u2019s life was turned upside down.<\/p>\n

Because of a paperwork glitch with his father\u2019s visa, they had to return to the Dominican Republic, which the family had left nearly five years before. \u201cIt was a shock for everybody,\u201d Encarnacion says. \u201cI cried the first day I got there because I didn\u2019t know anyone anymore. It was a rough time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and his family put their life in Milwaukee on hold, thinking they\u2019d only be gone for three months while they got the paperwork resolved. But instead, three months stretched to three years. In the meantime, Encarnacion got a job at Western Union and started saving for college. \u201cAll that time I was just waiting to go back,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

As soon as his family returned to Milwaukee, he wasted no time in enrolling at Milwaukee Area Technical College to earn his general education credits, eventually transferring to 51ÁÔÆæ to study accounting and finance in the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business.<\/p>\n

Jim Fischer, a lecturer in accounting, says Encarnacion stood out because of his ready smile and intense focus during his advanced financial accounting course. They continued to meet from time to time after Fischer\u2019s class was over. \u201cHe was a student who was just fun to work with,\u201d Fischer says. \u201cHe has a lot of maturity for his age.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout Encarnacion\u2019s college career, he worked full time or near full time while also balancing full-time coursework. He managed to do it all \u2013 even double majoring \u2013 in just four years and six months. \u201cI knew I was going to have to work full time to put myself through college and that it would be really hard, but I now know it was worth it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

After spending three years working as a bank teller, he landed an accounting internship at Northwestern Mutual, where he still works. \u201cWhat I learned at 51ÁÔÆæ made me more confident to take on more challenging jobs,\u201d Encarnacion says.<\/p>\n

On campus, he was also active in Beta Alpha Psi, an honorary organization for accounting students. He credits Beta Alpha Psi\u2019s networking opportunities, which introduced him to accounting professionals throughout the city, with helping him earn a postgraduate internship at the prestigious accounting firm Deloitte in downtown Milwaukee. \u201cI feel pretty lucky,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

While he is looking forward to simply working for a while and finally having evenings and weekends free to spend with his wife, he\u2019s already planning to dive into his master\u2019s degree in Professional Accounting at 51ÁÔÆæ next summer.<\/p>\n

He never considered going anywhere but 51ÁÔÆæ for his graduate work. \u201cThe program is amazing,\u201d says Encarnacion, who hopes to become a Certified Public Accountant. \u201cEverything has gone so smoothly so I don\u2019t see a reason to move to another school.\u201d<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t always been easy. But that\u2019s part of what has made this graduation day so worthwhile. \u201cI\u2019m most proud that I made it, that I put myself through school working full time\u2026that my education was because of my hard work,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aspiring CPA Otoniel Encarnacion juggled a full-time job with a full-time class load. But now his hard work has paid off with an internship at one of the nation\u2019s top accounting firms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40008,"featured_media":5138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[122,124],"display_categories":[],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[],"class_list":["post-5055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-campus-community","section-students"],"yoast_head":"\nAn unexpected detour didn\u2019t stop this grad<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Aspiring CPA Otoniel Encarnacion juggled a full-time job with a full-time class load. 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