Accounting certificate gives CPA bigger numbers to crunch

Now a Certified Public Accountant in Santa Barbara, Colby Sellman credits her UC San Diego Extension Certificate in Accounting, earned in 2007, for pulling her in the right career direction.

   Student Profile: Colby Sellman, Certificate in Accounting

“Once I decided that I wanted to be a CPA,” she said, “I started taking every accounting course I could think of.”

As a UC San Diego undergrad, she served as fiscal operations manager for the campus’ iconic Geisel Library. After graduating with an economics degree in 2002, she joined a major San Diego accounting firm, where she flourished for five years.

That’s when her independent spirit took her to Santa Barbara, where she bought a small accounting firm and made it her own.

“It’s allowed me to be an entrepreneur, what I’ve always wanted to be,” said Sellman, a recent newlywed. Her husband, Andris Hodosy, whom she first met while they were both students nearly 15 years ago, is also a UC San Diego graduate (2001).

“After nine years of dating,” she said, “we figured it was time we got married.”

Originally from Apple Valley in the High Desert, Sellman was once an avid long-distance runner. She now prefers a more leisurely game of golf, which she’s pursued for the past 13 years, with a handicap of “around 25.”

“I like golf because it forces you to learn patience and to keep cool,” she said, “which isn’t very easy for me, especially after a few bad shots.”

Meanwhile, Sellman finds herself equally captivated by observing every-day people as she is with crunching numbers.

“I’m always fascinated,” she said, “trying to figure out why people do the things they do.”