For Marina Brown, Accounting Came to Life Beyond the Classroom
As a student in the Dhaliwal-Reidy School of Accountancy at the Eller College of Management, Marina Brown has taken what she learned in class into internships at Ames Construction and Troon. Along the way, she found mentors, built her confidence and became a mentor to other students.
The confidence developed early on during one of Marina’s favorite Eller memories: a BCOM class project. Her group developed a strategy for a company and presented the recommendation. Marina says the company’s CEO later approached their team and began putting the idea into practice. The project showed her that a great idea is only as good as how it’s communicated. The presentation skills she developed in BCOM also proved useful when she entered a corporate environment through her internships.
Why Accounting?
Marina had always pictured herself studying business. Her father worked in business, she enjoyed math in high school, and she was also a strong writer. Accounting brought those interests together.
What she likes most about the field is the view it provides into an entire business. Learning the language of accounting, she says, has helped her understand how the different parts of an organization connect. She believes that foundation will be useful no matter which direction she eventually takes within accounting.
Learning Through Internships
Marina started gaining workplace experience early. During her freshman and sophomore years, she interned with Ames Construction in their Phoenix cor
porate office, where she worked with payroll. Seeing a topic she had discussed in class being used in an actual organization made the work feel more tangible.
She also enjoyed working with people and learning about responsibilities beyond what she had encountered in class.
In summer 2026, Marina interned with Troon in Scottsdale. She worked alongside a CPA and learned from a manager, who was both very knowledgeable and supportive. The internship gave her another opportunity to apply her skills and see how accounting functions in a different organization.
Both internships reinforced something Marina had begun to understand at Eller: the classroom provides a foundation, but there is always more to learn once that knowledge is put to work.
Finding Her Community
Marina first became involved with Eller’s Premier program as a first-year student. The program introduced her to professional skills through workshops on resumes, LinkedIn and Microsoft Teams. It also connected her with a mentor and gave her a familiar face on campus. She later returned to Premier as a mentor and has continued in that role since her sophomore year. Marina enjoys helping other students, but she also appreciates how much she learns through mentoring them.
That sense of support is one reason the University of Arizona feels like home to her. Marina has found a strong community among Eller students and staff, and she names Katie Maxwell as one of the people who has made a difference in her time here.
Her advice to other students is to start getting involved right away.
“Get involved ASAP! It will help with meeting people, developing your professional and personal skills, and will make your time at Eller a lot more fun,” Marina says. “I’m a firm believer that you get out of something what you put in. Give it your all from the beginning, it’s so worth it!”
Her other campus advice is simple: say yes to opportunities, be kind to everyone, and always bring a hoodie to class—because the Eller building tends to get very cold!