A Chance Meeting

Kate Polles ’17

Alumni connection lands accounting major perfect internship

Accounting major Kate Polles ’17 never could have imagined that attending a Moravian University career networking event in New York City would lead her to an internship in her hometown of Nazareth, PA. But it was there that she met alumnus (and fellow Nazareth native) Bryant White ’11 who told her all about the invaluable internship he had with Casey Hoch at Hoch Accounting. 

“From meeting at the New York City networking event, Bryant connected me to Casey and Casey gave me an interview. The interview went really well and I got the internship,” Polles says.

Mentored by Hoch and his colleagues, Polles learned the ins and outs of preparing basic individual 1040s and how to gather information to prepare income tax returns. Hoch also invited Polles to shadow him during client appointments so she could see how the tax process works, from gathering information to final preparation. 

“Before tax season picked up, he also took the time to teach me more about bank reconcilitations and how this will be something I will see no matter what I do with accounting,” Polles says. 

All of this real-world experience carried over seamlessly to Polles’ coursework and expanding her understanding of tax topics. And it proved especially helpful when, as part of her Tax for Business Entities course, she volunteered to prepare basic tax returns for low income people. 

“Drawing this connection strengthens and adds value to my education because Moravian University really does help you prepare for the real world, teaching to these real world experiences in order to have a successful career in the future.” — Kate Polles '17

“Drawing this connection strengthens and adds value to my education because Moravian University really does help you prepare for the real world, teaching to these real world experiences in order to have a successful career in the future,” Polles says.

Polles plans to graduate with 150 credit hours, pursue her CPA license, and even return to Hoch Accounting for the upcoming tax season.

“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that by going to the networking event I would find an internship in my hometown,” Polles says. “It shows how connected the Moravian community really is, and how alumni really do take the time to pay it forward in helping students, such as myself, starting out in the working world.”