“Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing Truly Changed My Career Direction”

Yoali Romero didn’t learn about Cal Poly from a counselor or high school alumna. After visiting Hearst Castle, the high school junior and her family stopped in downtown San Luis Obispo, where she learned the city was also home to a state university.

“I fell in love with the small-town vibes of it, but we didn’t come up to the campus to see it,” said the Anaheim, California, resident.

Romero has three sisters and a brother, who range in age from 6 to 24, but she is the first to attend a four-year university, adding: “So I did my research after the trip to the Central Coast, and I chose Cal Poly — before even touring the campus.”

Yoali Romero was active as a student, working at two tax clinics and heading the student accounting club. (Courtesy photo)

“It was my top choice,” said the business administration senior, with a concentration in accounting. “I think, at that time, the business program had a 96 to 98 percent employment rate after graduation, so that kind of really drew me in.”

Moreover, the program offered accounting courses earlier than other schools, the Learn by Doing education model, and “it was the school that gave me the most financial aid,” she added.

Her first campus visit occurred a month after high school graduation during Cal Poly’s Student Life Orientation, or SLO Days, summer program for incoming undergraduates, and weeks before the start of classes.

Romero planted the seeds for success during a bumpy freshman year in 2021-22, where she struggled to find her footing.

Ultimately, she found it through campus clubs — the Cal Poly Accounting Club and the college’s Latinx Business Student Association, or LBSA, which provides a welcoming place for students while striving to boost the numbers of Latinx professionals in business careers.

“I would honestly have to say the people that I met at LBSA my first year helped me so much,” she said. “They guided me through, helping to navigate Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo.”

She was involved even more with the organization for future accountants.

“I started out as a general member my first year in CPAC, which helped me so much in preparing myself for the internship recruitment process, career fair-wise, in networking and so on,” Romero said.

Yoali Romero, top row, third from left, poses for a photo with fellow members of the Latinx Business Student Association during her freshman year. “I would honestly have to say the people that I met at LBSA my first year helped me so much,” she said. “They guided me through, helping to navigate Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo.” (Photo: Pat Pemberton)

She ramped up her participation in her sophomore year serving on the committee planning a networking event in advance of a career fair and, gaining confidence, also campaigned to become the club’s publicity director, a position she held for a year, and became club president for the 2024-25 academic year, leading up of 130 members, with 60-70 regularly attending weekly sessions.

“I had the opportunity to lead 10 board members, where we executed weekly meetings bringing in different firms, social events, professional development panels and two annual career fairs with over 30 firms,” said Romero, who grew up and attended schools in the city of Orange. “This club has given me that hands-on experience in planning large-scale events, managing budgets and leading a team to provide students with resources to help them in their careers.

“It has been one of most challenging and rewarding experiences in my college career, pushing me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible.”

“Advice I would give to my younger self is ‘Slow down and have faith, everything will fall into its place. You’re right where you need to be.'”

Yoali Romero

Her leadership abilities grew through other campus involvements. She worked as a dormitory resident advisor in her second year to freshmen business students, many, unlike herself, who had family members that had “gone through the college experience. I honestly didn’t feel like I had the capacity to be able to support and guide them through their first year,” she said.

Instead, Romero drew on being a big sister to three younger siblings and surprised herself as being a “a natural mentor.”

“When my residents would ask me for help, I would honestly be so excited,” she said. “That’s when I realized that I had done an OK job in the RA role. I’m not a resident advisor anymore, but I have had a couple of my former residents seek guidance with the recruitment process and careerwise.”

Contacts in other club roles encouraged her to join two of the senior accounting projects that focus on the tax practice: the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, program, that provides free tax help to qualifying taxpayers with gross income of up to $70,000; and the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, which offers pro bono representation to people with IRS tax disputes. The LITC also conducts outreach and education about tax issues to the public, many second-language English speakers, as well as advocating on behalf of low-income taxpayers.

These programs also impacted her life.

Yoali Romero, front row, second from left, pictured at the U.S. Tax Court with members of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. (Courtesty photo)

“Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing truly changed my career direction,” said Romero, who initially planned a career in human relations before discovering my interest in accounting through classes and extracurriculars.

“The LITC clinic gave me hands-on experience working with real clients, helping them lower tax liabilities that they couldn’t afford, and educating them on their rights and responsibilities. In addition to helping mitigate their cases while working with them, I’ve been able to create and lead presentations and outreach to the community to bring awareness of the services that we offer.”

LITC students assist with complex issues in tax law while also providing empathy and support to clients. The reports they prepare are turned over to the clinic attorney who presents the case before the U.S. District Court in Fresno, California.

“These crucial topics, affect everyone, and a lot of people do struggle with financial literacy, especially non-English speakers,” Romero said. “Just being able to help these clients using my first language, Spanish, to translate and simplify those tax concepts has been honestly so rewarding.”

VITA student volunteers “prepare tax returns for low-income taxpayers,” she said, “Both of these experiences have reinforced my passion to help out others using the knowledge that I have.”

Yoali Romero , who graduates this spring, has a job lined up at PricewaterhouseCoopers. (Photo: jay Thompson)

She hopes to channel that work later in her career by launching her own accounting firm that will bridge the gap between “the struggle for financial literacy and the people who really need it.”

The seeds she planted four years ago when she began her accounting journey have blossomed.

A few weeks after commencement, she begins work at PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational professional services network known as one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, that she has experience with.

Romero attended a summer leadership program with PwC at the end of her freshman year and then completed two internships with the firm before the starts of her junior and senior years. She also will be studying for the certified public accountant exam; a CPA accountant is distinct from a general or unlicensed accountant.

Looking back on her time at Cal Poly, the coursework and out-of-class activities, the result of Learn by Doing, also prepared her for her next chapter.

“When I first came to campus, I feel like I was this small, shy, quiet person that had no idea what she was doing,” the 22-year-old said. “I was scared of just putting myself out there because I thought I wasn’t going to fit in.

“On the eve of graduating, I’ve grown a lot. I’m still 5-foot-1 but feel like I’ve made the most of my time at Cal Poly. So advice I would give to my younger self is ‘Slow down and have faith, everything will fall into its place. You’re right where you need to be.’ ”

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