An Thien Le ’21 (accounting) is the recipient of the 2020 CSU Trustee Award for Outstanding Achievement, which honors a student from each of the 23 campuses that make up the Cal State system. It is the third consecutive year that a student from the CSUF Department of Accounting has received the award, which takes into account both achievement and need.

A Vietnamese immigrant, Le moved to the United States four years ago. She is a first-generation college student and has overcome the challenges of learning a new language and balancing a job and her studies, a testament to her work ethic and that of her parents. She is also active as events committee chair for the CSUF chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, a senior supplemental instruction leader for the Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences, and a certified tax volunteer for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

“Accounting provides fun puzzles that urge me to find correct answers through patterns, formulas and connections. Figures in accounting are not only raw data, but they also tell a meaningful story of a company’s health based on accurate analyses of financial statements,” Le tells CSUF News on why she selected accounting as her major.

Le’s goal is to become a certified public accountant at a Big Four firm, and she’s well on her way toward this achievement with a full-time employment offer at Grant Thornton scheduled to begin in fall 2021.

“An Le exemplifies the high caliber of student that our program ‒ which is known for its strong integration of technology, analytics and real world practices ‒ attracts,” says Accounting Professor Vivek Mande, chair of the Department of Accounting. “We are really proud that for three years in a row now, an accounting student has been selected as a winner of the Trustee Award.”

For more on the Department of Accounting, read our articles on CSUF accounting.