Accountancy grad shares life inside the UWL experience and how it has prepared her for life beyond

Posted 9:37 a.m. Monday , Dec. 15 , 2025

Accountancy grad shares life inside the UWL experience and how it has prepared her for life beyond

When Louisa Benning toured the UW-La Crosse campus in summer 2021, she was struck first by its external beauty. She loved the lush, green lawn stretching out before the historic Wittich Hall where she planned to study accounting. She liked the campus's small, welcoming feel and the comfort of not having to cross any major city streets to get to class.

But, over the past 3.5 years, Benning has discovered that the campus' external beauty is equally matched by what she has found inside.

Inside Wittich Hall, she formed close friendships in her accountancy classes. She and two classmates bonded during late-night study sessions on topics like "foreign currency hedging" in the second-floor study lounge.

"We even get together outside of class, which is fun," she says. "I also formed many friendships outside of the school of business, but it's nice to connect with students studying in the same field."

Inside the Recreational Eagle Center, she discovered intramural sports, hitting pickleballs and bumping volleyballs in her free time - and even taking home the coveted championship T-shirt twice.

Inside the Roncalli Newman Center, just off campus, she found a second home among fellow student parishioners. There she leads and participates in Bible studies and attends the student dinners.

And inside her professors' office hours, she learned she was more than just another name on the class list. Instructor Ben Trnka has helped her think through the internship and job opportunities that would set her up for success, a timeline for taking CPA exams, scholarship leads and even travel plans to Europe.

"He shows he cares about students and wants them to succeed - and is interested in their lives inside and outside of school," she says. "It's not just this one teacher. Within the Accountancy Department, I've had some stand-out professors who have really impacted my experience here."

Those many "insides" of UWL have led to strong outcomes as Benning. After graduation in December, she will complete an audit internship at a Minneapolis firm from January to March. She also has a full-time job offer lined up from another Minneapolis company where she interned last summer in the tax department.

Benning says job offers from internships are common for UWL accountancy students. "I'm happy to see that for the work I put in, things were received well and they wanted to offer a full-time position," she says.

Benning walked the stage during UWL's commencement ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 14. Her departure from UWL reminds her how glad she is that she chose UWL.

"Walking home every day, I look up at the bluffs and think, 'Wow - I just love being here," she says.