Josh Woodacre ’18 isn’t bothered by fellow students’ reaction to his major.
“When people ask my major and I tell them, sometimes they shake their heads and say, ‘I don’t understand why,’” the accounting major from Prince George County said with a smile.
Woodacre plans to be a certified public accountant and work in tax preparation or auditing. In a tax-season internship this semester, he is working mostly on corporate tax returns in the Petersburg office of Mitchell Wiggins & Company. He works a half-day on Friday, all day Saturday and some Sundays.
“I’m learning a lot and having fun,” he said of the paid internship, which he hopes to continue this summer. “Some people think accounting involves complicated math, but a lot of it is simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, in addition to the tax laws.”
Woodacre is the 2016-17 recipient of the Larry C. & Elizabeth W. Tucker Scholarship in the College of Business and Economics.
The $1,400 scholarship was created by Mr. Tucker, a Petersburg civic leader who is the father of David “Dee” Tucker ’86. At one time, all three of Dee’s daughters attended Longwood: Leanne Carroll ’15, Lauren Tucker ’17 and Rachel Tucker.
If his internship isn’t keeping him busy enough, Woodacre is taking 19 credit hours this semester, including conceptual physics, and is social activities director of the Accounting Association. He has a 3.5 grade-point average in his business courses and a 3.3 GPA overall.
Winning a mock trade show in an eighth grade marketing class, in which he and his partner made pillows, sparked Woodacre’s interest in business. His career path became even clearer in high school, thanks to conversations with two cousins who were accountants and an accounting class he took his senior year.
“I’ve always been good in math and interested in business, so accounting just made sense,” he said.
Woodacre is characterized as thoughtful and mature by his professors. He was called a “quiet leader” by Patti Bowman Carey ’82, director of the McGaughy Professional Development Center and a lecturer in business communication.
“Josh is always diligent, personable and engaged,” said Carey, who taught two classes Woodacre took last semester. “I have my students work in small groups, and his group often looked to him to be the leader. When he speaks, he has something to say.”
Woodacre transferred to Longwood in fall 2015 after two years at Richard Bland College, following in the footsteps of his sister, Elizabeth Woodacre ’14.
“I love Longwood. I love how close-knit everyone is, and I like the traditions,” he said. “I also like the town of Farmville, which has a small-town atmosphere like where I’m from.”
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