Graduate school is all about further honing communication, critical thinking, and research skills. What better way to put these skills to the test than talk about a research project for just three minutes and one slide to a room full of people outside your field? That’s exactly what MPAcc Fall ’24 graduate Laura Girdner did!
Back in November, Laura was wrapping up her MPAcc degree working on an accounting research assistantship with Full Professor, Dr. Andrew Holt. Just a couple weeks away from graduation, she took on the challenge by representing our MPAcc program in the preliminary round of this year’s MSU Denver’s 3MT (3 Minute Talk). After excelling in the preliminary round, she crossed the stage at the Fall ’24 Commencement Ceremony and returned back to campus this past February to complete in the final round of MSU Denver’s 3MT competition.
Talking about accounting research to a room of non-accountants is no easy feat. From the moment she took the stage, she captivated the audience with her title, one slide, and pop culture references.
Laura won the competition, being the first participant from our MPAcc program to ever win an MSU Denver 3MT!
In the last two months since her victory, Laura has participated in two more 3MT competitions, including representing MSU Denver in the Colorado Statewide 3MT competition last week. The competition was fierce! While Laura did not place, she did an exceptional job and we are so proud of her work and diligence to get to this point. 
She also traveled to New Orleans to present her research with Dr. Andrew Holt at the Small Business Institute (SBI) National Conference. It’s been quite the busy season in her first four months as an MPAcc alum!
Thank you Laura for going above and beyond in representing our MPAcc program and MSU Denver community so well!