Laura Miller Parish (MST ’17
LAURA MILLER PARISH (MST ’17) is a tax manager at Plante Moran. She chose to earn her MS in Taxation from DePaul because she wanted to learn as much about taxation as possible and to strengthen her skills and knowledge to excel in her career. She received her undergraduate degree in accounting and an MBA at the University of Dayton. She came to Chicago looking to work with a middle-market accounting firm and after a few years realized that she liked the world of tax.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RETURN TO SCHOOL FOR YOUR MST?
When I was studying accounting at the University of Dayton, I completed my MBA to get the hours needed to sit for the CPA exam. As much as an MBA is respected in my profession, a master’s degree in taxation is what stands out more. One of the reasons I decided to pursue DePaul’s MST was that every class in the program was tax related, allowing me to dig deeper into tax law.
HOW HAS GOING BACK TO SCHOOL PREPARED YOU FOR YOUR FUTURE CAREER?
At first I thought going back to graduate school was going to be a little daunting, and I was not looking forward to the reading and classwork. However, for the first time in my life, this was a program that I chose on my own, and it was in a field that I was 100% certain that I wanted to be doing. It was the best choice I could’ve made. I was able to take courses in downtown Chicago after work. I was even able to take a few courses online for flexibility and avoided taking courses during the busy tax season.
Since I have real-world tax experience, it was neat to be able to share client situations in classes. Learning the history of tax and conceptual theories in class made what I do at work more intuitive, and my experience made me able to participate in class and provide valuable insights. This gave me more confidence in my learning and at work. Now I am a much better problem solver and can answer my clients’ questions without having to [check and] get back to them. I am able to solve problems, research answers and develop new skills. I am confident that with my skillset, I can solve tax problems in a much more efficient manner.
WHY SHOULD OTHERS CONSIDER GETTING THEIR MST AT DEPAUL?
If tax is where you see your career going, there is not a better program. Tax law is constantly changing, and learning the history, theory and basic concepts in today’s tax environment is crucial. This degree gives you the skillsets to serve all of your clients’ needs. The reputation of the program is outstanding, and I am proud to tell people that I went to DePaul.