UM alum Anna Miller answers New York’s call

Internship leads to an accounting job for the 2022 Ole Miss graduate from Tupelo

By Emma Hill

IMC student

During January of her last semester at Ole Miss, Anna Miller hopped on a plane to New York City with two of her best friends. She was going to intern for an accounting firm for the first three months of her senior year.

Although she did not expect it, Miller fell in love with the city. It taught her independence, confidence and responsibility. As happens with many students, her internship taught her not only daily aspects of her future career but also about herself.

As a young girl growing up in Tupelo, Miller worked hard to pave the way for her future success. She was an ambitious high schooler, involved in many clubs and a championship-winning show choir. During college, she was on her sorority’s rush team and made straight A’s.

 “She was always doing everything,” said Emilie Chandler, a fellow student and sorority sister. Miller’s ambition and on-the-go pace grew in her a desire to explore the world past Mississippi. She has always stuck out to people, with her bright personality and trendy fashion taste. 

“At first, New York was not what I expected it to be,” Miller said. “I called my mom every day wanting to come home. It was a hard adjustment.”

However, once she adjusted, she was in love. She went on dates, met club promoters and had her favorite bodega. She felt comfortable expressing her style and trying new things.

She explored the city on her own, seeing Broadway shows and going on frequent walks. She learned how to be independent and how to enjoy her own company. Miller even went to a Billie Eilish concert by herself.

“I really was having my Carrie moment,” Miller said, referring to the popular TV show Sex in the City. 

She also enjoyed the hard-edge New York attitude.

“It was honestly refreshing because everyone in the South is so nice,” she said. “I’ve always been told I apologize for things way too much and I learned to be more vocal and confident.”

One thing she particularly enjoyed was the Northerner’s admiration of her Southern accent. New Yorkers found it cute. Miller insisted that this trait helped her on dates and with overall likability. 

Not only did Miller enjoy the perks of city living, but she also appreciated her internship. Miller had applied for multiple accounting internships in New York City and landed one at KPMG, an international marketing firm. She was an audit intern, and her job was to investigate financial statements to make sure they were accurate. She decided it was exactly what she wants to do with her life. 

For Miller, the 9-to-5 life was a refreshing change. “In college, you don’t get the privilege of leaving your work behind at 5 o’clock,” she said. “It often feels like the work never ends. You stay up all night into the early morning just for one assignment or test. I loved getting to have the rest of the night to do whatever I wanted until 9 o’clock the next morning.”

Miller said she was given the impression that if she did well at her internship, she would be offered a full-time job with KPMG. As the best three months of her life neared an end, she got that offer. The firm was willing to give her an auditing job which she would start a year out from her expected graduation date.

“KPMG is very flexible and willing to work with their employees,” she said. “If I wanted to start even earlier, I could. If I didn’t want to stay in New York City, they could move me to another location. I chose to stay in New York City and will be starting in June of 2023.”

Miller returned to Oxford near the end of March. She graduated from Ole Miss in May with a degree in accounting. Before starting her job in New York, she must pass her certified public accountant test. She decided to use her summer as a break and began studying for her CPA test in September.

Miller currently works part-time at a bank in Tupelo and is studying when she’s not working.

“I feel like I have been in a weird transition because I’m not in the work field yet,” she said. “It’s so different, but it’s not a good or bad different,” Anna said. She loves spending time with her family and getting home-cooked meals. She wants to cherish this period because once she moves to New York, visiting home will probably be a once-a-year event.

Miller says she’s ready for her future move: “I would say like 70-30 prepared. I feel comfortable with getting from point A to point B.”

Although she says she’s nervous about crime in the city, she is learning to be more aware of her surroundings. As for the high housing costs, she says she’s using her time at home to save money for the big move.

In five years, Miller said, she hopes to still be in New York. “Maybe I’ll be a senior manager at KPMG, I’m hoping to get promoted by then.”

She also would like to travel and live life on her own terms.

“I just want to be happy and content,” she said. “That’s my goal.”