Math is Julie Granruth’s love language. It has bookmarked her life, starting as a student at Towson High School, where her master tutoring skills made what sometimes looked like a labyrinth of numbers accessible and fun for other students. This caught the attention of Donatella Spigarelli, a mom of one of the students—and a certified public accountant and an audit and accounting principal at Baltimore-based accounting firm Ellin & Tucker. Spigarelli was so impressed with Granruth that she encouraged her to apply to the firm’s college internship program. After three years and an accounting internship, Julie is graduating with a degree in financial economics, a 4.0 GPA, and a job as a tax and audit associate at Ellin & Tucker.
Q: What led you to study at UMBC?
A: My journey to UMBC, I would say, was a little bit different. When I was about 10 or 12, my middle brother was very interested in chess and played in many tournaments at UMBC. I came with him throughout middle school and high school, experiencing UMBC at a very young age. When I applied to colleges, I discovered that UMBC had a great financial economics program. Combined with my experience of UMBC’s community as a kid, it became one of my top picks.
Q: Is your love of math a family affair?
A: Growing up, our parents always taught us to save all of our money and only buy what we needed. I took that to heart and became interested in math, especially in the global impact of the actions of individuals on the economy. There was a direct application to the real world.
I chose financial economics because the passion with which my economics professors taught and how they applied it to their research made me passionate about it, too. I enjoyed watching them express their enjoyment of economics. It helped me better understand my enjoyment of it as well.
Q: What’s an unexpected thing you love about your major?
A: I’m a very technical and analytical person. I now love working in Excel, especially for my accounting classes. In my first accounting class, I was assigned a group project to create a company and work out its financial statements. That’s when I learned the most about how to work in Excel. I developed the skills and cool tricks that made spreadsheets work fast and efficiently. Last semester, in advanced accounting, I analyzed the financial ratios of different companies and used the Excel skills I learned to compare their performance.
I visualized everything and organized things in a way that made sense to me and then explained it to someone else in a way that they understood it. That’s why, after graduation, I want to continue my education and become a Certified Public Accountant. I’ve always been interested in it, but I wasn’t always 100 percent sure until last summer during my accounting internship. Helping people save money on their company taxes or their personal taxes is something I’m really interested in doing.
Q: What advice do you have for students interested in financial economics or becoming a CPA but aren’t sure it’s for them?
A: I have frequently heard students say that a lack of confidence in math is the main reason they don’t pursue either of these paths. My advice is to take advantage of all the opportunities you have. Never be afraid to ask for help. The professors are very welcoming and kind and will be able to help you in any way they can. A big part of economics is relating it to the real world. If you’re interested in talking about theories and policies, which is why I chose economics, math is just one piece of the equation. I don’t think there’s a ceiling, even if numbers aren’t your best friend!
Q: Where did you find the most sense of community while at UMBC?
A: I have had a passion for economics since high school and was eager to join a group of people with similar passions. The Economics Council of Majors was a community that welcomed me during my freshman year. I came to love this community, and as treasurer and then as president, I helped shape and lead the future of this group I loved.
I also enjoyed the Student Events Board (seb). I was grateful to have so many amazing friends who inspired me to put myself out there and join this community. I became the vice president of internal programming; I had never taken on such a large role in my community—I was intimidated. However, once I realized the impact I could have, I never felt more comfortable surrounded by peers who shared my interests.
During events, when I spoke with attendees about our related hobbies, watched groups of strangers become friends over a shared interest, and collaborated with other campus organizations, I was inspired to pursue new passions. These experiences revealed something I hadn’t originally considered. While the events we created were intended to form the UMBC community that we wished to see, I have also felt the warmth of this community as those around me expressed their heartfelt enjoyment of my programs. I felt so welcomed by the leaders of seb in my freshman year, and I felt honored that I had a role in the way new and returning students experienced UMBC and its beautiful community.
Q: How have you dealt with challenging moments at UMBC?
A: Despite new classes that seemed impossibly difficult, changes in my social sphere and goals, and my peers seeming farther ahead than I was, one thing that has never changed is my persistence and passion.
When I first faced defeat, I felt not only the fear of that defeat but also the fear of future defeats. However, through my persistence, defeat became somewhat of a friend, someone I turned to as I reclaimed my footing and approached the problem time and time again, unafraid to ask for help to do my best. I take my defeats as starting points for future growth. I now hold onto them as fond memories and stories of strength.
This is why, since the spring of my freshman year, I worked hard every semester as a teaching assistant. I understood how easy it was to let academic troubles envelop me and how it seemed easier to seal this envelope than to change the script and deliver a new message. Having gone through this myself, I became passionate about helping students bring out the best in themselves. I showed them that one defeat was not just a defeat. It was an opportunity for greater future success.
Q: Carry over the one. What place have numbers had in your community service?
A: One of the students I tutored at Catonsville Elementary School was very numbers-oriented. The first question she asked me when I met her was, ‘What’s six times six?’ Talking about our love of numbers opened a way for me to communicate with her during the mentoring process.
Since my freshman year, I have volunteered as a Shriver Living Learning Community mentor at Catonsville Elementary School. I acted as someone between a friend and an adult they could look up to, yet also relate to. I encouraged my students to take pride in who they were and reminded them that they only had one chance in life to be who they are, so they might as well own it.
As the student leader for this site, I supervised the registration, onboarding, evaluation, and weekly attendance of 20 UMBC student volunteers throughout the year. This meant staying organized—it always came back to spreadsheets!
The best part of my UMBC experience was the privilege of engaging with so many communities and giving back to them with my time. I believe that service to those beyond ourselves is part of what makes our lives so fulfilling, and I can not imagine a life without it.
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Tags: CAHSS, Economics, Shriver Living Learning Community
