{"id":11652,"date":"2021-08-01T20:30:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T03:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/?p=11652"},"modified":"2026-02-19T15:09:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:09:58","slug":"preciosa-miranda-scholarship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/2021\/08\/01\/preciosa-miranda-scholarship\/","title":{"rendered":"Scholarships Help First-Gen Student Fulfill College Dream, Graduate Debt-Free"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Preciosa
\u201cScholarships allowed me to focus on school and academics and not worry about how I would pay for tuition or rent,\u201d says Preciosa Miranda. (Photo courtesy of Preciosa Miranda)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Preciosa Miranda<\/a> graduated from the WSU Carson College in May, becoming the first person in her immediate family to earn a four-year degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoing to college was something I\u2019ve wanted since I was a child,\u201d the Pasco resident says. \u201cAs soon as I could work, I started saving for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scholarships also played a critical role, allowing Miranda to concentrate on her studies and graduate debt-free. A double major in accounting and management information systems, Miranda has a job lined up with KPMG in Seattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She recently reflected on her journey to WSU and her Carson College experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grew up working in small family businesses,<\/strong> so I\u2019m very business oriented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My dad started a Snow Shack business selling shaved ice when he was a teenager. When he moved on from that, my grandma took over and expanded it. Besides selling concessions at events in the Tri-Cities, I helped pick apples in my grandma\u2019s orchard. She let me keep the ones I picked. I went to farmer\u2019s markets with her and kept the profits from what I sold. The money went into my college account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took my first accounting classes<\/strong> online at Columbia Basin College through Washington\u2019s Running Start program. I was in high school and basically taught myself from the book. It just clicked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During tax season, I worked as a receptionist for a Richland accounting firm. People told me accounting is a good degree because it\u2019s so versatile. I liked that. It\u2019s unrealistic to think you\u2019ll do the same job your entire career. Accounting gives me a broad foundation and lots of options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I added management information systems<\/strong> (MIS) for a double major. Accounting is very by the rules. MIS has a lot of creativity, and it was my hardest major. It teaches you how to dive into data and look at the bigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the anxiety of coming to college<\/strong> was worrying about whether I could afford it. My parents were very supportive of my decision but were not able to assist me financially. I met three times with a WSU representative, who walked me through the process of applying for grants and scholarships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My scholarships allowed me to focus on school<\/strong> and academics and not worry about how I would pay for tuition or rent. I spent hours on each coding assignment last semester, which I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do if I had worked during the school year. Scholarships also gave me time for the college experience. I was active in Beta Alpha Psi, and the club helped me with networking and interviewing for internships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was honored to receive a $10,000 scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board my senior year, but all of my scholarships were a tremendous help. I was able to graduate from WSU in three years completely debt-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a mentor to first-generation students<\/strong> was my most rewarding experience at WSU. As a first-generation student myself, I didn\u2019t know who to talk to about how college works. I had no clue what I was doing\u2014I didn\u2019t even know what a double major was. I became a peer mentor through the Carson EDGE program<\/a> so I could help other students like me navigate WSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll be studying for the CPA exam<\/strong> this summer. I\u2019d like to complete two of the four parts before September, when I start as an auditor with KPMG in Seattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Learn more about creating a pathway to excellence by contacting
the Carson College of Business alumni relations team at ccb.development@wsu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preciosa Miranda graduated from the WSU Carson College in May, becoming the first person in her immediate family to earn a four-year degree. Scholarships played a critical role, allowing Miranda to concentrate on her studies and graduate debt-free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[634],"featured_media":18147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[604,425,430,428],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11652"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18760,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11652\/revisions\/18760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11652"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author?post=11652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}