JERRY SHI, NOT THROWING AWAY HIS SHOT
CURRENT POSITION: Assurance Associate at PwC
LOCATION: Ann Arbor, Michigan
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DEGREE: Business Administration and Economics, Master of Accountancy
GRADUATION YEAR: 2016
ACTIVITIES AT MICHIGAN: Michigan Pops Orchestra, Harvest Mission Community Church, Christian Business Initiative, Sport Business Club
MICHIGAN POPS ORCHESTRA INSTRUMENT: Viola
Watch and listen to Jerry's favorite Pops piece while you read about his Pops Life!
A CONVERSATION WITH JERRY
KELLY COMPTON, our Pops Life correspondent, chats with Jerry and finds out how the Michigan Pops has enriched his life's journey and purpose, in unexpected and wonderful ways
KC: Jerry, tell me a bit about your musical background before coming to Michigan?
JS: I started playing piano in third grade because my parents signed me up for lessons. Of course, I highly disliked it at first. I had a strict teacher, so I had kind of a love/hate relationship with playing piano, but eventually I grew to love it. In 5th grade I started playing viola at school, and I continued with it throughout middle and high school. My high school music program was really strong, and orchestra was my favorite experience.
KC: Once you got to Michigan, what drew you to the Michigan Pops Orchestra?
JS: Compared to the other orchestras, it seemed more fun! I found out about Pops through FestiFall and signed up for an audition. During my freshman and sophomore years, I felt pretty lost overall on campus, but Pops was the one place where I actually felt a sense of belonging, especially my freshman year.
KC: Tell me about your experience with Pops, and share some favorite memories!
JS: My favorite thing was doing the music videos (the Screen Actors Guild) with Ha Nul (Jun) and Anthony (Do-Hoon Kim) my freshman year. Anthony dressed up as Darth Vader for one concert and as a woman for another! I had always liked photography and had a DSLR camera, and Ha Nul recruited me because I had a high-quality camera.
KC: Are you still involved with music now?
JS: I still play piano – I have a keyboard in my apartment – and I actually make rap covers now too. I like Hamilton (the musical), so I download the instrumentals (and instrumentals of other stuff I like) and use Audacity to rap!
KC: What have you been up to since graduation, and what does your job entail?
JS: I work at a public accounting firm, PwC, which does auditing. My job entails going to other companies to ensure that their financials are correct based on legal standards. It’s kind of complicated, but that’s the gist of it.
KC: What during your time at Michigan made you want to go into that field?
JS: I liked the accounting classes the most, so I decided to go for it. I was a Business major and an Economics minor – Econ was always just interesting to me. I took AP Econ my senior year of high school, and that class material felt like stuff I could see myself doing in the future. I did the minor at Michigan kind of just for funsies, and I guess having a minor looks a little better. Then my Masters in Accounting was for one year at Michigan after undergrad (for public accounting, this degree is pretty much mandatory).
KC: What advice would you give to students interested in a similar career path?
JS: Get good work and extracurricular experience. It doesn’t have to be related to what career you want to pursue, but build up the kind of skills that A. you can talk about in interviews, and B. make you a better skilled and more well rounded person. Also, go to a lot of recruiting events and keep being persistent because rejection is inevitable and common. Do a reasonable amount of research and figure out what’s a good fit for you. If you’re on the fence about what you want to do after college, then just go for whatever seems like a good offer and stick it out for a bit.
KC: Jerry, you seem to be involved in every IM team in Ann Arbor. Tell us about your love of sports!
JS: Haha, my love of sports. I grew up kinda traditionally "Asian" doing a lot of academic extracurriculars, kinda nerdy, kinda chubby too. But my dad played a lot of sports back in the day, so maybe there's some genetics there. And for me starting in middle school, sports was a way to get fit and also fit in more with people, be more social. And I always thought athletic stuff was cool, so I tried a bunch for fun, and I like statistical stuff, so I started playing fantasy sports. So it all kinda developed from there.
KC: How did the Pops influence your time at Michigan and your life after graduation?
JS: I was feeling lost in such a big place freshman year, but Pops was the one place where I felt a sense of belonging. It also continued my lifelong appreciation for music beyond high school. And it brought me closer to one of my now-best friends, James Tan. We only overlapped in Pops for one year, but we were friends in high school and then Pops helped us reconnect more. Pops sparked more friendship for us, so that was good! We’re still roommates because he’s doing a Ph.D. now
KC: What does the Pops mean to you personally?
JS: First, it helped me to find my place on a big campus. Second, it was a place with a lot of good music and a lot of quirkiness too. Finally, it helped me to continue my love and appreciation of music that will likely be for a lifetime.
JERRY'S FAVORITES
- MUSICAL GROUP: Apink (K-pop group)
- CURRENT PLAYER: Currently, Tobias Harris. All time, Ben Wallace!
- RESTAURANT IN A2: Ayse's Turkish Cafe
- MISSION TRIP: Peru with Harvest last March
- TV SHOW: Reply (South Korean anthology show) 1997/1994/988
- UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEMORY: It's hard to pick just one, but something that stands out is the Michigan v Notre Dame night name, which was also the first Michigan game I went to
- POPS PIECE: “Flight to Neverland” from Hook
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