Internship Series | Owen Connery ’26 MSA ’27 leaps from the classroom to a Big Four firm

Our Internship Series highlights where our students interned this summer, what they learned, and how their experiences fit into the unique professional journeys they are building at Nichols College. Since real-world preparation is central to our mission, all Nichols students complete an internship before graduation to connect theory with practice.

In this ongoing Q&A series, our students share insights about their internships in their own words. Leading off this week’s profiles is accounting student Owen Connery ’26 MSA ’27. Hailing from Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, Connery is a second-generation Bison—his father, Bryan, graduated in 1995. Below, he reflects on his path through the Nichols accelerated Master of Science in Accounting program and his corporate experience this summer.

1. Tell us about your major and what career path you are exploring.
I am part of the Nichols 3+1 Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) program, where you can complete your entire undergraduate accounting degree in just three years and, in one year, complete your master’s. I graduated with my BSBA in Accounting in May 2026, and I am currently an MSA candidate for May 2027. This accelerated path allows me to meet the 150-credit requirement for the CPA exam upon graduation. I completed my bachelor’s degree in 3 years through credit overload and summer and winter classes. The 3+1 MSA program is an intense, fast-paced track, but it gave me a significant head start by allowing me to transition into my master’s coursework one year earlier. I am an entrepreneur at heart and am exploring careers in assurance and transactional advisory services.

2. Where did you complete your internship, and why did you take this internship on—what are your goals?
I served as an Assurance Intern at Ernst & Young, which is a Big Four accounting firm and a global leader in assurance, tax, and strategy and transactions. I was drawn to this internship because of the quality of clientele that EY works with and the culture of the firm. My goals were to meet great people, learn new skills, and get a taste of what working at EY is all about.

3. What did a typical day look like for you during this experience?
A typical day involved collaborating with my team on audit testing and financial analysis to support the issuance of clients’ financial statements. I worked across two client engagements, splitting my time between them. Every day brought opportunities to collaborate with new people, learn from experienced professionals, and make the most of everything the Boston office has to offer.

4. How did your school coursework prepare you for this role?
My accounting case studies in classes with Professor Mark O’Connell, former CEO of Wolf & Company, and Professor Michael Forte, who is a practicing CPA, attorney, and chair of the Nichols accounting program, prepared me to tackle my everyday work. Professor O’Connell’s emphasis on advanced auditing case studies completely changed how I look at financial data, giving me tools that I used every day during my internship. The practical, real-world scenarios we analyzed in Professor Forte’s classes taught me how to approach analyzing complex financial statements.

This, combined with my experience working with clients through Bison Consulting, enabled me to dive right in. Bison Consulting is the Nichols student-run consulting project team on campus. Through this group, I have worked directly with multi-million-dollar regional businesses, local start-ups, and non-profits in engagements centered around accounting efficiency, process development and improvement, and strategic campaigns. Managing actual client relationships through Bison Consulting took away the first-day jitters and gave me practice working in professional environments.

5. How has your internship experience shaped your future goals after graduation?
This experience strengthened my confidence going into the professional world by providing me with more tangible experience that I can apply to my future career.

Seeing how a global firm operates has confirmed my goal to pursue a long-term career in strategic growth and financial analysis. Working alongside experienced professionals at EY showed me what the work is all about, which is helping businesses solve problems and build trust in the market. Knowing that I can handle the pace of a Big Four firm makes me excited to finish my master’s year, pass my CPA exams, and step into a full-time role.

6. What advice do you have for other Nichols students looking for an internship?
I encourage people to step outside their comfort zone and create their own opportunities. You don’t need to have everything figured out; you have to be willing to put yourself out there.

The faculty at Nichols and the career preparation and resources Nichols students receive are there to help you grow and gain exposure to the professional world, but to get an internship, you have to take the first step by applying to the role. Do not let fear of a big name stop you because you are more prepared for these roles than you think you are.

(Pictured in story photo: Owen Connery ’26 MSA ’27 in Boston’s Copley Square, framed by the historic Trinity Church and the Hancock Tower.)