When Faris Madani started at George Mason University, he opted to major in economics, assuming there were limited classroom learning opportunities for someone aspiring for a career in business.
It was not until he took the Survey of Accounting course with Peggy Tsirigotis, assistant accounting area chair at the Costello College of Business, that his perception began to change. “She was so enthusiastic about the class, not just the class, but the profession,” he says. “It just kept clicking with me, and I was like, you know what, maybe accounting is for me. The more I took it, the more I loved it.”
Now, Madani is all in on the subject, having been awarded the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Scholarship and named the incoming vice president of the Accounting Society at Mason, with plans to transition to president in the spring.
When Madani joined the Accounting Society at Mason, it dawned on him that he was part of something bigger and that he was making a real difference. “We provide students with resources, members meet professionals, and they have opportunities to apply to internships,” he says. “And we are facilitating all that for all these members and all these students.”
“It just kept clicking with me, and I was like, you know what, maybe accounting is for me. The more I took it, the more I loved it.”
— Faris Madani, PCAOB Scholar
Madani approaches his leadership responsibilities with a strong sense of purpose, understanding the impact his role has on preparing fellow students for future challenges. The experience has allowed him to develop valuable professional skills, including time management and communication, and he is eager to build on these strengths as his role within the organization continues to grow.
In addition to the Accounting Society at Mason, Madani is involved in several other student organizations, including as the head of ambassador affairs for NABA Inc. at Mason, former vice president of the Society for Collegiate Leadership and Achievement, and a member of the Muslim Student Association and Saudi Student Association.
Despite a full schedule of extracurricular commitments, Madani is equally ambitious in the classroom, accelerating his education through the Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s (BAM) in accounting, which will enable him to graduate with his master’s degree in December 2027, though he is making that date flexible given his full plate of responsibilities.
Beyond the classroom and his campus leadership roles, Madani has sought out real-world experiences in the industry. To see if audit was a path he wanted to pursue further, he completed an audit internship at CliftonLarsonAllen. “It cemented the fact that audit was an interest for me,” he says. “Not that I’m not open to other fields, but it definitely allowed me to have that out-of-textbook experience, more hands-on, working with clients, working with people on a team, and actually understanding how audit is in the workforce.”
Madani is building upon his internship experiences this summer at EY, with plans to work at one of the big four firms after graduating. “I tell myself to plan, organize, understand where you’re going, pick a route, but also understand that you can diverge and go to places, and opportunities can open up,” he says.
As someone who has always been a problem solver, Faris Madani continues to sharpen those skills outside of the classroom through service to his fellow students and his internships. By combining a commitment to student leadership with the mentorship of Costello faculty, he is building the professional skills and confidence to make a meaningful impact now—rather than waiting until after graduation.