Nicole Cockerill
What education have you taken?
I attended elementary school at Roblin Elementary and graduated in 2009 with honours from Goose Lake High School in Roblin, Manitoba. I started my post secondary at BU in 2009 and I’m currently in my fourth and final year of my Bachelor of Business Administration degree.
What accomplishments are you proud of?
First, I’m very proud of my business plan partner and I winning two awards for having the best small business plan in 16:435 Small Business Management. All of the business plans submitted were of excellent caliber, so I’m very proud of us for having the best one! Secondly, I’m very proud of being on the honours list at BU for the 09/10, 10/11, and 11/12 school years. I hope to be there again for 12/13! I’m also really honoured and proud to be nominated along side these other wonderful women!
Tell me about yourself/ your background/ your history.
I grew up in Roblin Manitoba, along side younger twin brothers who have both started their first year of university here at BU. In high school I played both junior varsity and varsity basketball and had success with it, winning a provincial silver and bronze medal. In addition, I worked at the local Fields Store until I graduated in 2009. I started working for Sensus Partnership of Chartered Accountants in the summer of 2010, and have accepted full time employment there upon graduation in April. In September I’ll enter into the CPA School of Business with hopes to receive my Chartered Professional Accountant designation in 2016.
How did you become interested in your field of study?
I became interested in pursuing a career as a Chartered Professional Accountant through my grade 11 and 12 accounting teacher, Kirk Wilson. I really enjoyed his classes and with his encouragement, I thought it would make an excellent career for me. Now I love it because I can work closely with clients helping them to grow and understand their business.
What is your philosophy in life?
My first philosophy is to “always grow, and to grow all ways”. This has helped me a lot over the last 4 years of university. It has helped me to understand failure is a necessary part of learning, and I believe I’ve grown more as a person from experiencing failure than I have from experiencing success. Each failure or setback I’ve encountered has motivated me to do better work, and to be a better friend, daughter, sister, girlfriend, student and employee. My second philosophy is “be silly, be honest, and be kind”. Each one makes me a better person.
Where do you see yourself in the future?
In the future I see myself working as a CPA in Brandon and working closely with not-for-profits and charities. I also hope to be able to travel to new places like Europe, Australia, Africa and have many new and wonderful experiences.
Nominator’s Comments
Nicole has consistently displayed a focused and dedicated work ethic in her studies. The results that she achieves with this mature approach is consistently above average. Nicole is usually the first student to arrive to an 8:30 am class, and arrives prepared to discuss the topic of the day. She is a focused note taker and as a result manages to retain the information covered and applies it to her papers.
In December 2012 she presented, along with her partner, a business plan for a personal care service that would allow seniors to remain independent and busy professionals to stay on top of their lives. Their business was to be called “A Friend in Deed”. While their presentation was well done, the written plan was exceptional. They achieved the highest grade in the class for their project and will be receiving two awards in the spring as a result.
Nicole’s consistent effort is an inspiration to all students, demonstrating clearly what can be achieved with such an approach. I expect her to achieve much upon graduation.