After Montgomery County Community College teamed up with one of the Big Four accounting firms on a new student success venture, one recent graduate was given the opportunity of a lifetime. 

In 2024, MCCC became one of the first community colleges to participate in PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC’s) initiative to strengthen its relationships with community colleges. 

“The goal of the program is to develop interest in accounting careers and establish professional relationships with our students,” said Accounting Instructor Pamela Kuperstein, “in the hopes of eventually hiring them when they complete their degrees.”

Thanks to that collaboration, David Watson Jr., ’25, a Business Administration major, was able to attend an all-expense-paid trip to meet and learn from PwC employees.

Watson was selected to participate in the PwC Career Preview Program at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. June 23-25. The program is intended for highly motivated individuals and serves as an opportunity to confirm a student’s college academic path and career objectives and to become better acquainted with PwC. 

As a participant, students work alongside their peers to learn about themselves, the world of professional services and PwC. During the event, students are introduced to the professional services industry, strengthen their technical skills, build relationships and develop leadership abilities.

“I’m glad I got to connect with people at PwC to learn what to expect. It made me more determined and outgoing for the future as well,” said Watson, 22, of Norristown.

Watson’s Educational Journey

After graduating from St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in 2021, Watson said he felt unsure about what to do next. After a year, he decided he wanted to follow in the footsteps of some of his family members and become an accountant. Their advice was to enroll at MCCC to save money, then transfer to a four-year institution after graduating with an associate’s degree. 

Watson enrolled for the spring of 2022 semester as a Business Administration major with an accounting certificate, which prepares students to work as a bookkeeper at a small-to-mid-sized company. Taking courses primarily online gave Watson, who was a Dean’s Commendation List recipient, the flexibility to work part-time for a pool cleaning company and for a tax preparation company during tax season. He graduated with a 3.4 GPA. Even as an online student, he was able to participate in on-campus events such as job fairs hosted by Career Services. 

In an email from Kuperstein, Watson learned MCCC would host PwC recruiter Petra Robinson and five professionals from the company’s Philadelphia office on campus in October 2024 for a career and networking presentation called, “Why Accounting?” Watson was one of 24 students who attended the session and learned about the various accounting career paths and opportunities at PwC. He was also able to get on PwC’s recruitment email list.  

“After that lecture, Petra stayed in contact with me and talked about more opportunities to learn about PwC and become an accountant,” he said. “Being a part of the Big Four accounting firms, I kept in contact. Later down the line, the Career Preview Program came up and they said it was a great opportunity to connect with other accounting students and get a more in-depth point of view of what PwC is about as well.”

Watson filled out the application in December 2024 and was accepted the following month. For the next few months, he regularly received emails about what to expect from the program.

“I was excited to learn more. I was looking forward to learning about the culture. I knew what it takes to be an accountant. It was a great opportunity to talk to people who work there,” he said. “I want to be a Certified Public Accountant. So, this was a great chance to talk to CPAs and learn about their journey. It was also a great opportunity to talk to accountants and students around the world.”   

The PwC Experience

The first night included a mixer event, where Watson met students everywhere from Tennessee to Jamaica. The second day featured employees at the firm talking about their roles. 

“Partners, managers, recruiters, even some regular accountants,” he said. “Some were in Digital Assurance and Transparency, some in audit, and some in tax. Different spokespeople talked about different areas of PwC and what they liked about working there. I was intrigued to learn more about that.”

Attendees also performed interview practice sessions. The last day included another partner at the firm who talked about his experience there, before Watson headed back to the airport. The whole experience exceeded his expectations.

“It really did,” he said. “More than what I expected.”

Looking Ahead

After MCCC, in fall 2025, Watson transferred to West Chester University, a four-year partner school, to pursue a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He credits the help he received from the College for helping him make his dream a reality. 

“Montco helped me a lot,” he said. “The classes I had at Montco really helped prepare me for the classes I’m taking now. Also, Montco helped me keep in contact with PwC and helped me in the process of transferring credits as well. It was really easy. I registered for classes and made sure my transcripts were sent over. I wasn’t expecting it to be that easy.”

MCCC’s Business Administration program provides students like Watson with an associate's degree while preparing them to transfer to a four-year college or university. After completing the program, students can confidently pursue degrees in accounting, finance, international business, marketing, human resources and information systems. For more information, visit the Business Administration landing page.