Senior accounting major balances creative, analytical talents through community involvement
Senior Ella Campbell shows accounting can be more than numbers
Ella Campbell was in eighth grade when she discovered she wanted to study accounting after reading a book on the business behind the hit television show “Duck Dynasty.” Her mom, an accountant, explained to her that everyone, even Justin Bieber, needs an accountant. After those two discoveries, Campbell knew accounting was the right track for her.
The senior from Hillsboro, Missouri, and homebody at heart, knew she didn’t want to go far when she was looking for colleges. She wanted to have the option to drive home when needed, and KU was the perfect distance from her home.
When preparing to transition from high school to college, Campbell was most anxious about meeting people. She came from small schools with only about five other people in her graduating class in eighth grade and 60 in her high school class. Now as a School of Business student, she has found her people and mentors.
“Kelvie Crabb and Alee Phillips are so knowledgeable about everything accounting, and I feel like they always know the answer to anything I ask them, or they know someone to direct me to,” Campbell said. “Also, Lisa Bergeron is the Business Honors mentor, and she is so easy to talk to and has shown me so many things I was not aware of before.”
Campbell has been involved in many organizations in her time at KU. She has been a member of the accounting fraternity, Beta Alpha Psi, for all four years. She is also an honors community advocate, designed to bring students together to create a sense of community within the University of Kansas’ Honors Program. She also works at the Center for Learning and Writing Support and is a member of the university’s chapter of Feminist Campus, a student organization to empower women worldwide in all sectors of society. The chapter of Feminist Campus started in 2024 by Campbell’s roommate Mady Mikko.
In Beta Alpha Psi, she is the social media chair, where she works with another student to make weekly posts for Instagram and LinkedIn. They also talk with recruiters at meetings and interview other board members. As an honors community advocate, Campbell works as a merch coordinator, working with the Honors staff to create merch. She also makes care packages that raise money for spring scholarships.
In these positions, Campbell has gained skills she feels will be beneficial to her future career.
“The two roles I have are more on the creative side, which I feel like is not necessarily associated with accounting but is always a good skill to have and builds out of the box thinking and knowing how to approach something in a different way,” Campbell said. “That is definitely a valuable skillset to add to a group of people and bring to a team. There is also a lot of communication in these roles which is really important.”
Campbell values serving her community through many different initiatives. She has worked at the Center for Learning and Writing Support since her freshman year. In that role, she provides feedback to students on their writing with a trained peer and also assists in brainstorming, drafting and revising projects.
She and her team have started student outreach, including emails and calls, about the free tutoring services offered. In her calls, Campbell has told students about the free services that both the University Academic Support Center and the Center for Learning and Writing Support. In her emails, she has provided a general overview of the sources and informed students where they could sign up. Campbell has done more than 2,000 outreaches in two years.
“I feel like that is something I can see visually helping people, and I can see the number of students I have brought in,” Campbell said. “A lot of times, on the phone, they say how they didn’t know about it and how helpful it is, which I feel has been a really big accomplishment for me.”
Before her senior year, Campbell interned at Adams Brown, a tax, accounting, audit and consulting service as an audit intern in Overland Park, Kansas. She worked mainly with employee benefit plans and received three of her own clients. She enjoyed seeing the whole process of an audit from start to finish and worked with third-party resources to make sure the compensation was correct and recalculated the numbers given to them. Her main focus was making sure employees got their full compensation and fair matches.
After graduating in 2025, Campbell will work as an audit intern for EY in Kansas City, Missouri. Campbell feels she owes the internship opportunity to her friend and fellow KU student Sully Anselmo. Anselmo had already been talking with EY and provided Campbell with information on how to stand out as a candidate.
Campbell hopes to get her Certified Public Accountant certificate (CPA) after she graduates and also plans on doing the Master of Accounting program (MAcc).
“From there, I want to see what is out there in the accounting field,” Campbell said. “I have had these two audit internships, but I know there are so many other things to do, and I want to experience all of it and see what else I can do with an accounting degree.”
By Grace Ludes
