MBA student Pondpat Tohsanguanpun
With her family at the Bangkok airport before leaving for Fairfield
With fellow MBA students
Pondpat Tohsanguanpun chose MUM’s MBA for Accounting Professionals Program because her goal was to gain work experience in the U.S. Pondpat earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Thammasat University in Thailand and worked for Ernst & Young Thailand for three years as a senior auditor. When she learned about MUM from a family friend, she decided to apply.
Pondpat says she enjoys studying at MUM for several reasons. She appreciates the diversity of international students and the practice of the Transcendental Meditation® technique. “TM helps me develop relationships with people,” she said. “I am happier than ever before. I have grown so much as a person.”
In the accounting program, she has learned that business is not all about the bottom line, and sustainable businesses need to foster collaboration among all their departments. One of her most fulfilling MBA experiences was her participation in the Capstone online business simulation, where her team finished in the 99th percentile.
“I learned how to work in a team, encourage and empower team members, and make them accountable,” she said. “If you invest in people, they will give favorable results in return.”
She also had a chance to practice her payroll skills during a five-month internship with Vanguard Resource Group in Fairfield. After finishing her on-campus studies, Pondpat hopes to find a paid internship in auditing.
“Pondpat has consistently impressed me with her solid technical skills, focused friendly interpersonal manner, and alert and happy personality,” said Professor Andrew Bargerstock, chair of the Accounting Department. “I am very confident that she will achieve great things in her life.”
Pondpat sees the future of accounting moving towards increased computerization, so her long-term goal is to specialize in integrated financial management software such as the SAP enterprise resource planning software, which is one of the Accounting MBA specializations at MUM.