Salve Success: Sarah Nerdig ’22 hired at Big Four accounting firm

Sarah Nerdig ’22, who got her degree in accounting while at Salve Regina, has accomplished what most accounting students only dream about.

She has recently passed the Certified Public Accountant Examination (CPA Exam) with one of the highest scores in the state of Kentucky. Not only that, but she has earned a full-time position at Deloitte — one of the Big Four accounting firms that is recognized across the world for their expertise.

From Kentucky to Newport, Rhode Island

Nerdig grew up in a small town called Shelbyville, Kentucky. But she had always loved the ocean, and she had many summer vacations in Newport, Rhode Island, with family who lived in Massachusetts.

While Nerdig was drawn to the area, she always assumed she wanted to go to a big university. However, once she stepped foot on Salve Regina’s campus and saw the close-knit community, she discovered she wanted something different.

“When I toured Salve, I ended up loving it,” reflected Nerdig. “Everyone I heard from talked about the community and being really close to people and professors.”

This community aspect and growing bonds with her peers and professors is one of Nerdig’s favorite things about attending Salve Regina.

“I had some of the most amazing professors and would not have gotten where I am without them,” said Nerdig.

Discovering her accounting niche

As a first-year student, Nerdig came to Salve Regina as an undecided major. On a whim, Nerdig randomly chose marketing, but she then made the switch to accounting at the end of her sophomore year.

A professor convinced her to make the switch from marketing to accounting. Nerdig is an analytical and mathematical person, and she quickly discovered she was good at accounting and enjoyed it.

“I always thought I would hate accounting,” said Nerdig. “You always hear it’s so boring — but it’s actually not, and it can be a very rewarding path.”

When she started being an accounting major, Nerdig had an accounting internship consisting of around 20 hours a week. As a tax and audit intern, Nerdig grew her experience at ClarkSilva Accountants & Advisors; General Electric Appliances; and KLR Accounting & Assurance, Tax & Advisory Services.

Nerdig graduated summa cum laude as an accounting major with minors in business administration and marketing. As an involved student, she was a member of the Pell Honors Program, president of the Finance and Accounting Club, and a writing consultant and subject tutor for the Academic Center for Excellence. She was also a member of the marketing honor society, Alpha Mu Alpha, and the business honor society, Sigma Beta Delta.

The road to becoming a Certified Public Accountant 

To become a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA), the Uniform CPA Examination has to be passed. It’s an intense exam, and Nerdig said that having a full-time job while studying for the CPA Exam as nearly impossible to manage. It took her several months of full-time studying to prepare herself.

To no one’s surprise, Nerdig passed with flying colors and received the highest score on the auditing section of the exam in the entire state of Kentucky.

“I am extremely proud of not only passing the four sections of the exam, but winning the award for the highest score in the section,” said Nerdig.

In October, Nerdig started her full-time position as an audit and assurance associate at the globally renowned Deloitte in their office in Louisville, Kentucky. This itself is a huge accomplishment to have as a first job, but Nerdig also had offers from the other three Deloitte firms in Kentucky.

“My internships are 100% what got me my job at one of the top four firms,” said Nerdig.

Nerdig hopes to officially become a CPA, because once someone passes all four parts of the exam, accountants need one year experience in the field to become officially certified. She is working on her dream now, and she is excited about learning all that she can while starting out at Deloitte.

In the future, Nerdig would love to one day become a partner at Deloitte, and if her history of hard work says anything — she will accomplish whatever she sets her mind to.

Nerdig (second from right) with friends from Salve Regina.

Article written by student writer Morgan Rizzo ’23

Salve Success is a series of student success stories periodically featured on SALVEtoday. Check out the tag Salve Success for more stories.