Scholarship opportunities allow senior to achieve academic, professional goals
Accounting and finance double-major Ricardo Cabral explores different programs, experiences through accounting
Ricardo Cabral lived in Mexico for the first eight years of his life before moving to California for a few years only to pack up and move to his new home in De Soto, Kansas.
His desire to attend KU initially was affected by his family’s financial situation. However, Cabral was granted a scholarship through KC Scholars that was available for institutions in Kansas and Missouri. The scholarship made KU a clear pick for Cabral, and he knew KU offered a great education, community and network.
Cabral is a senior expected to graduate in the spring of 2025 with accounting and finance majors. He originally enrolled as a finance and business analytics double-major, but after completing ACCT 200 Intro to Accounting, he discovered that accounting was a field that could lead him to experience many different industries after graduation.
Many challenges stood in the way of Cabral’s college journey. When he was a freshman in high school, the Cabral family became a single-parent household after his father lost his battle with leukemia. He had to learn to sacrifice in order to work hard and study and while navigating more responsibilities and a lack of resources. His mother had not applied to or attended college and was unfamiliar with the responsibilities of being a student. Cabral dedicated time to figure it out on his own.
Now a student at KU, the School of Business has introduced Cabral to a mentor, Jason O’Connor, his academic advisor.
“I have always looked forward to my appointments with him,” Cabral said. “He not only reaffirmed my academic accomplishments and advised me on what classes to enroll in, Jason understood what I was accomplishing as a first-generation student and encouraged me to keep dedicating myself because he himself had been in my place.”
His freshman and sophomore year, Cabral tried to engage himself in many clubs to explore his different interests. His junior year, he began participating in Beta Alpha Psi’s chapter after hearing great things about the organization from Rachel Green, a lecturer and the director of the school’s Accounting Scholars. Beta Alpha Psi is a student organization that provides extracurricular activities of interest to dedicated accounting students at KU. Through the chapter, Cabral saw amazing growth in himself and enjoyed how the meetings covered diverse topics.
“It helped me improve my networking skills and industry knowledge,” Cabral said. “I was motivated to interact with our guest speakers, and I learned a lot about the diversity of accounting as a career field, ranging from mid-sized to large-sized firms and from private to government applications of accounting.”
Cabral has helped the Accounting academic area as both a grader for ACCT 200 since the fall of 2023 and as a teaching assistant for ACCT 410 Intermediate Accounting since the spring of 2024. His responsibilities for both positions include grading assignments, quizzes and exams and holding office hours. He said it has been very rewarding, especially when he sees improvement in students’ assignments and exams after helping them during office hours. These positions have sharpened his time management skills and improved his interpersonal skills through interactions with fellow students.
Cabral also has excelled academically throughout his time at KU.
“I have been a part of the honor roll for each of my six semesters here, and I was admitted into the Jack Dicus Business Honors Program,” Cabral said. “At times I take it for granted, but I know myself, and many other students do school on top of their other responsibilities such as part-time or full-time work, their homes and even families.”
Cabral has learned that college means different things for different people.
“Many students are here because our university is recognized academically for the many different programs offered and the emphasis on research,” Cabral said. “But there are also those who come to KU solely because of the merit of their work and dedication, some transferring from community colleges, others can only attend thanks to the financial assistance of scholarships, like me. Still, we are all proud to be Jayhawks.”
Outside of school, Cabral has earned himself two internships with KPMG, an accounting firm, in their Kansas City office. His first internship was the summer before his junior year at KU where he participated in the KPMG’s Embark Internship.
He learned about the firm and its culture as well as engaged with professionals in KPMG’s three main practice areas (audit, tax and advisory) allowing him to gain an understanding of the work performed by each service area. His main responsibilities were completing professional development courses, assisting engagement teams and performing exploratory data analysis on health inequity. The summer after his junior year, he returned to KPMG as an audit intern, performing preparations of understanding for risk assessments, tests of controls and engaging with professionals. His two internships have led him to a full-time offer in Kansas City as an audit associate for the fall of 2025.
Looking beyond his last semester of college, one of Cabral’s main objectives is to obtain his Certified Public Accountant license (CPA). He hopes to pass his exams before his start date with KPMG.
“Looking further ahead, I want to repay my family for all of their years of work and dedication that have allowed me to be where I am today,” Cabral said. “I consider myself a fruit of their work and dedication. I hope to be able to buy a house for myself and my family and help those that are still in need in our extended family. I want to support my sister through her time in college, helping her enjoy her experience as much as I did and more.”
By Grace Ludes
