COAP alumni from the 1998 Pace and
Hofstra residency programs

Forty alumni of Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP) attended the program's annual holiday party at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on December 28. COAP, sponsored by the NYSSCPA, FAE, academia, and the profession, is a college summer residency program that exposes high school minority students to accounting careers.

The holiday party marked the first time that participants from the Hofstra '98 program met their counterparts from the Pace '98 program. The students also networked with COAP Advisory Board members and older alumni, and enjoyed the holiday spirit with music, dancing, and food.

Many COAP '98 students, now seniors in high school, exchanged stories about the college application process. Melanie Baptiste, a Hofstra COAP participant who plans to major in accounting at Temple University, spoke about how the COAP program influenced her decision.

"The summer residency program helped me understand the world surrounding a CPA," she said. "Visiting accounting firms and companies was extremely beneficial."

Also attending the party were Long Island COAP Advisory Board Chair Ed McDougal; board member Pablo Sanchez; COAP '92 alumnus and former residency counselor Damon Duke, who now works at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; and Terence McGuire, also of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.