“I never thought I’d go to college where one of the schools was in a place called ‘Collegeville,’ but once I set foot on campus, I was in love. I remember beaming while envisioning myself studying there.” That is the first thing 2007 Bennie alumnae Victoria Cox said when asked why she chose to attend Saint Ben’s. “Campus was gorgeous, the community felt like home, I liked the Benedictine values, and I even loved the buses between campuses!”

Victoria took a variety of courses in her first year, but she wasn’t sold on a major until she took new prof Mary Jepperson’s Financial Accounting course as a sophomore. “Everything I had been waiting for, I found in Mary’s class,” Victoria gushed. “It was powerful to hear about Mary’s career path, from how she won the Selles Award for outstanding performance on the CPA exam, to how she became the first female partner in PWC’s Minneapolis office.”

Victoria liked accounting because it sums up the accomplishments of a business in numerical form. “Accounting can be hard, challenging, and confusing, but at the end of the day there is commonality, and the results are presented in a simple way,” she explained. She also took elective courses in ceramics. “It balanced out my accounting—I spent a lot of time throwing pots!”

Outside of her classes, Victoria was involved in theatre, and her on-campus job involved working in the Saint Ben’s/St. John’s costume shop and being part of stage crew for performances. She also studied abroad in Italy, Austria, and Germany.

When reminiscing about what she liked at Saint Ben’s, Victoria remembers the little interactions with fellow students. “Every day, my bucket would be filled by running into people.”

Victoria now works at the global accounting firm EY, where she got her start as an intern after her junior year. “Community was big in my youth, as well as at Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s, and I found everything I wanted at EY,” she said.

Victoria worked in the Minneapolis office assurance practice for 14 years, and last year she transitioned to a national role as Associate Director of Assurance Learning, which focuses on educating other EY professionals. “I have been leading training since my third year at EY. Now, I lead our entire audit curriculum,, but I found my greatest ripple impact is helping coach new and returning facilitators,” Victoria explained. “I legitimately love this job—if I could have written my dream job, this would be it.”

When she’s not working, Victoria stays busy with her family. She got married in 2013, and she and her husband have two young children. She also spent six years on the board of directors for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, a nonprofit company in Minneapolis

“St Ben’s and St John’s prepared me by helping me understand the importance of relationships,” Victoria said. “Kindness and compassion go a long way. Show those traits to everyone, not simply the leaders. And be your most true and unique, weird self every day. You’re the best when you are YOU!”