Today with Tanya

Hard working employee, dedicated accounting student, and loving mother of 2 boys. Here are just a few phrases that describe Tanya Vaughn.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tanya, a student here at Millikin University with a major identical to mine. Not only a student at Millikin University, but also part of the faculty at Millikin University. Through interviewing Tanya, I learned about both her personal and professional life and my hope is, through this blog, I can portray her bubbly personality and passion for life.

As I think back on our 30-minute conversation full of laughs, encouraging words, and genuine conversations, my mind travels to one thing in particular, the twinkle in her eye as she speaks. Through Zoom, it is at times hard to gauge the person in the other box, however, this is far from the truth with Tanya. The double thumbs up she gave me as I mentioned my new career, the smile on her face while she mentioned her children, and that welcoming twinkle in her eye throughout our short meeting.

So, what does a day in Tanya’s life look like? Tanya starts her day at Millikin, working in the CAPP office from 8AM to 5PM, many times utilizing her lunch hour to complete her studies. Once 5PM rolls around Tanya switches from work to school once again and completes assignments, lectures, or other tasks pertaining to the completion of her degree in accounting. Two, sometimes three hours, she remains in front of the computer focusing on bettering her education, not only for her family, but for herself. Of course, this does not happen every night, and if it did, it would likely drive anyone mad. So, those nights she does get to step away from the computer once 5PM rolls around, she enjoys dinner with her family.

As if I have not gone into enough detail on the dedication Tanya contributes to her education, I have yet another example. Many Saturdays Tanya returns to her office and puts in more schoolwork. These days are often the most productive, with a clear head and distractions at a minimum, Tanya focuses on the future ahead, through homework, of course.

One thing Tanya recommends, encourages, and advises accounting students and classmates to do? Communicate, she could not stress this enough! Communication is key, communicate with professors when assignments might be late, when you have completely dropped the ball, or if you need a little help.

A quote that Tanya uses in her daily life is “we are responsible for our actions and God is responsible for the rest”, this quote represents Tanya in several different ways. For starters, this quote shows Tanya’s faith in herself and in God, a characteristic that is valuable. This also shows Tanya holds herself accountable and takes responsibility for her actions.

It was truly a pleasure interviewing with Tanya, my hope is that through this blog, the reader will get a glimpse of “Today with Tanya”.