Trent Student Wins Business Leadership Award
Patricia Hoyt proves hard work pays off with Peterborough Chamber award
Trent student Patricia Hoyt was one of just two Student Business Leadership Bursary award recipients (Samantha Rivers from Fleming College was the other) at this year’s Peterborough Chamber Business Excellence Awards.
The third-year student is working towards her Business Administration degree with a specialization in accounting, and is on track to graduate a semester early – even though she works two part-time jobs to pay her own way through university.
The New Brunswick native moved to Lindsay with her family in 2013, and planned to go to Trent because one of her friends was already attending and spoke highly of it.
“I really like how Trent is in a small community and you get to know your professors inside and outside the classroom. It’s a very community-based university,” she said.
Ms. Hoyt began working as an accounting tutor in her first-year accounting class, and now provides accounting assistance to students all across campus, including the Trent Fashion Club and the Indigenous Studies program.
“I’m the type of person who likes to help anyone. It doesn’t matter if I know you or not. I started helping my friends but discovered I had a passion for tutoring. So I got in touch with the accounting society – before I became the president – and asked if I could tutor for them,” she added that it was her Trent accounting professor Jaime Morales who inspired her to fall in love with accounting. “He explains things very well and is not afraid to slow it down and re-explain it to you. He will make sure you understand it fully,” she said.
“I’ve truly had the best time at Trent,” Ms. Hoyt said. “I very much appreciate a small community university where you know your profs by name – you succeed.”
Ms. Hoyt says the award, which includes a $1,000 bursary and one-year subscription to the Chamber of Commerce, will open doors for her. “The Chamber has already put my name in the paper twice, and I’ve already met senior accountants from various firms, including Deloitte,” she said, adding that being able to network with the Chambers 500 business members will most definitely help her career. And what will that career be? No surprise: “My dream would be to work in an accounting firm. I plan on getting my CPA and hope to work at Deloitte. They’re big on leadership.”