YEP and winner is ... CalCPA recognizes outstanding young and emerging professionals with the 2012 YEP of the year award.

• Position: Interview

The future of the profession is in good hands if our recent Young Emerging Professional (YEP) of the Year Award nominees are any indication.

Among six strong eadidates, Megan Thompson, CPA, of San Jose, was named YEP of the Year for her volunteer efforts that have helped increase outreach to students and young accountants.

"I'm happy to say we had a difficult time selecting the final honoree," said CalCPA Chair Johanna Sweaney Salt. 'All the candidates demonstrated excellent leadership skills and commitment to organizing activities that will help students and fellow young professionals become successful."

California CPA spoke with Thompson about her professional life and the award, as well as compiled some information to introduce you to the other award nominees. Watch fir all these up and corners in a chapter near you.

2012 YEP of the Year Megan Thompson, CPA

How did you get into accounting, and why?

I graduated with a major in psychology and minor in political science. I was planning to go to law school and began studying For and took the LSAT While studying (Or the LSAT I mentioned to my lather that really enjoyed the logic games. and he suggested that 1 take an accounting class since accounting is more logic than math. I took a beginning accounting course at. a community college and everything just clicked. It all made sense: if one item goes up another item has to go down. I started taking more advanced classes and, alter finishing the CAAP program at Santa Clara University. I took and passed the CPA Exam.

What are the top issues YEPs are concerned about?

How to spend their free time and dealing with the work-life balance. The best thing about, our events is that they're networking events, so you're able to justify the time spent but they're also fun. It's a win-win.

How does it feel to be named CalCPA's YEP of the Year?

I was blown away I know that there were so many amazing candidates for this award, and I'm honored I was chosen. CalCPA has been a huge part of my life and it has been incredible to be recognized by an organization I care so much about.

How did you get involved with CalCPA?

I got involved with CalCPA by joining the YEP Committee and helping plan events. I started becoming more involved and when one of the chairs decided to move on to a position at the state level we talked to the chapter president at the time about me taking over for him. Since then, along with my co-chair Mark, I've helped plan several networking and...