Starting success early: the impact of internships on Business Gators
At the Warrington College of Business, all business majors (except BSBA Online) are required to complete an internship along with relevant coursework or study abroad to graduate.
Internships improve an undergraduate’s chance at obtaining full-time employment and/or admission to graduate programs or law school after graduation.
Emma Glazener and Toni-Anne Lue are just two students who have gone above and beyond in building their experience. Read how these students start success early with internships.
Emma Glazener, BSAc ’25
Emma Glazener (BSAc ’25) has had three internships while pursuing her accounting degree at the University of Florida.
Unlike most students who intern part-time over the summer, Glazener decided to intern part-time throughout the school year and full-time in the summer.
As a freshman, Glazener participated in the Florida Leadership Academy Case Competition.
Scott Thomas, Chief Financial Officer at PathPoint Energy LLC, served on the panel as a judge and connected with Glazener after the competition. After a coffee chat, she was hired to work for the company.
While she loved the environment at PathPoint Energy LLC, she realized that she wasn’t passionate about finance after a year working there and ultimately decided to change her major to accounting.
Glazener talked to Thomas about the switch, and he connected her with a partner at James Moore & Co. She was hired as a full-time audit intern from the company and worked there between January 2024 and May 2024.
“I’ve developed skills further than I would have if I had just done a typical 10- or 16-week internship,” she said.
From June 2024 until now, she’s served as an audit intern for Berkowitz Pollack Brand Advisors + CPAs, a company she first met at a tabling event on campus.
“They had Insomnia Cookies, and I wanted a cookie,” she said.
After graduation, she’ll work full time with Berkowitz Pollack Brand Advisors + CPAs while pursuing her master’s in accounting at Florida Atlantic University.
“I ended up getting my full-time job from that cookie, which is really cool,” she said.
Glazener encourages her fellow students to introduce themselves to people, send emails and talk to recruiters.
“I got all my internships by just putting my foot in the door,” she said. “[And] I have formed really strong mentorships with senior level management that I think I wouldn’t have formed if I had done a short internship.”
While it was sometimes difficult to manage both school and work, Glazener shared that a strong work ethic and communicating with employers helped her be successful.
“It’s all about how you prioritize your time,” she said. Even if that means getting up early before a game day or staying up late to study.
By getting experience early on, Glazener was able to find her passion in accounting.
“Internships are the best way to dive headfirst into fields,” she said. “[They] give you the opportunity to practice all the skills that UF teaches you before you have to transition into the corporate world.”
Toni-Anne Lue, BSAc ’24, MAcc ’25
Toni-Anne Lue (BSAc ’24, MAcc ’25) has interned at PwC’s South Florida office for three summers in a row.
Big Four accounting firms like PwC frequently visit the University of Florida to recruit students. It was at a tabling event in Gerson Hall that Lue first learned about the opportunities the company offers.
“When I went to the tabling event, they said they had opportunities for students going into their junior year or students after their freshman year,” Lue said, whereas she had previously thought most opportunities were for upperclassmen. Lue decided to take advantage of those opportunities early.
After her sophomore year, she started her journey with PwC as a Start intern in their Hallandale Beach Office. Then, she had the opportunity to dive into life working for a Big Four accounting firm.
The following summer she returned to the office as a Start Advance intern in consulting solutions where she did client-facing work.
Through her coursework and experience, she has developed a passion for tax work.
“Tax is definitely for me,” she said.
Lue thinks internships are especially useful for students because they allow you to develop professionally, personally and academically while getting real world experience in a corporate environment.
“It’s not what it looks like on TV,” she said. “[The environment] is interactive and [my experience] gave me an idea of how to conduct myself in this new, professional, corporate setting.”
At her internship, she also had the opportunity to meet partners from across the country.
“They’ll [come in to] just share their story and give me advice,” she said, which has been especially impactful.
After graduation, she will join PwC as a tax associate in their South Florida office.
Her biggest piece of advice for students is to put themselves out there by talking to recruiters at career fairs, tabling events or through LinkedIn without hesitation or fear.
She encourages her peers to remember that “they want to talk to you [and] they’re people too.”
