Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012

Miss Garner lands international internship

The following is from N.C. State University.

Johna Edmonds, a senior in N.C. State University's Poole College of Management, is taking part in the KPMG Global Internship Program in the spring, working in Paris, France, with some of the firm's largest clients.

The reigning Miss Garner, Edmonds was invited to apply for the international internship while she was a winter tax intern in KPMG, Raleigh's Global Internship Program. It is Edmonds' third international experience since enrolling at N.C. State.

She studied at a language-intensive university in Buenos Aires in the spring of her junior year. This year, she took an alternative spring-break trip to Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic, with the university's Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service.

While there, she taught elementary students in Spanish, using lesson plans she developed to demystify the English language.

"After fulfilling my desires to study abroad for educational and service work, I knew the next goal I wanted to achieve would be to work in the accounting field abroad," Edmonds said. "When KPMG offered me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I knew this was my chance and that I had to take it."

Edmonds will graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in accounting, a concentration in financial analysis and a minor in Spanish language and literature. In the fall, she plans to pursue a master's degree in accounting at N.C. State.

Best of both worlds

Edmonds said she decided to enroll in N.C. State during her senior year of high school. "I knew that I wanted to be a part of a large university that had a small university feel, and N.C. State offered the best of both worlds," she said. "In the midst of the prestigious Research Triangle Park, five minutes away from downtown Raleigh and our state's capital with some of the most influential people in North Carolina, I knew Raleigh was exactly where I wanted and needed to be.

"After visiting the campus, meeting the people and many of the professors, learning about all the amazing organizations and diverse opportunities N.C. State had to offer, I was sold and knew this great institution would one day become my alma mater."

Edmonds' decision to study accounting was influenced by a family friend who was a former partner with KPMG. His passion for the profession was reinforced by one of her N.C. State professors, Scott Showalter, also a former KPMG partner.

"I truly believe the accounting professors are Poole's College of Management greatest assets," Edmonds said. "They really challenge their students and give them real-world projects and assignments that allow them to take a glimpse into the actual world of accounting. I have gained interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills as a result of my major choice, as well as a substantial body of knowledge on how to apply technology to everyday course work."

"Not only are these professors very successful in their own careers, but they are also remarkably personable," Edmonds added. "I have yet to encounter a professor who is not willing to put in the extra effort to help a student, and that's what I really love about the professors in the accounting department. Without these professors, I would not have the knowledge or ability to have gained the internship at KPMG, Raleigh nor the Global Internship in Paris, France."

Reaching her goals

Edmonds has been setting goals for herself from a young age, when her mother, Faye Carter of Lumberton, encouraged her interest in performing. "Since the age of 3, when I performed in my first dance recital, I knew that I had a special God-given talent to entertain, which has been evident with my participation in the Miss America Pageant system," she said.

Recently crowned the 53rd Miss Garner, Edmonds plans to compete in the 2012 Miss North Carolina Scholarship pageant in June. "Winning the Miss North Carolina crown will not only fulfill my childhood dream, but will also be a testament to the fortitude and strength my mom has imparted unto me," she said.

"Growing up in a single-parent home in rural Lumberton, my mom has been my constant source of strength," Edmonds said. "She has epitomized excellence and hard work (and) is the positive influence that keeps me grounded as a person. Encompassing an independent attitude coupled with an ambitious drive, she has set the stage for my personal desire to become chief financial officer for KPMG."

Her internship in KPMG's offices in France is another step toward that goal.

Edmonds graduated from Lumberton Senior High School. Her parents are Faye Carter and John Daniel Edmonds Jr.