Brett Paubel, who was president of the Accounting Club for three semesters, is graduating with both his bachelor’s and master’s in accounting as part of UMSL’s 2+3 program. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

When Brett Paubel transferred to the University of Missouri–St. Louis from Southwestern Illinois College for the start of the Fall 2021 semester, he was looking for more than just a familiar place to continue his educational journey.

Like so many people across the country, Paubel craved connection after the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic that had shifted him, by his own admission, into “kind of an awkward kid” who had to be pulled out of his shell to engage in small talk in social settings.

It’s safe to say Paubel, who is graduating this week from the 2+3 program with his bachelor’s and master’s in accounting, with an emphasis in information systems, has found his community during his UMSL career. Consider what Marcia Countryman, the Accounting Club faculty advisor, wrote when she nominated Paubel for UMSL’s 2024 Student Leader of the Year award:

“Through his unwavering leadership, strong university service, selfless peer mentorship and visibility as a role model, Brett has contributed to the development and growth of students on campus. Brett is one of the most outstanding students that I’ve had the pleasure to work with throughout my 20-plus year career.”

Paubel’s transformation is partially a product of UMSL’s supportive environment – the accounting department is especially active and close-knit – but primarily because of a decision he made when he chose UMSL.

“Having that deprivation of a community during the COVID-19 pandemic forced me to push myself and get to know more people,” he said. “You make the most out of your career or academia, and the more I became involved, the more I cared about the school and the campus. I just wanted to get more out of my experience here. I needed that human connection. I can’t look at a Zoom screen for eight hours and call it a day.”

That motivation led to a legacy that won’t soon be forgotten. Paubel was president of the Accounting Club for three semesters and treasurer for two semesters before that. In addition to helping to create and organize events, his goal was not to just raise awareness, but create a community within the club and introduce opportunities that would benefit his fellow students down the road. When Warner Baxter, an UMSL alum who was then the retiring executive chairman of Ameren, was on campus for the Alumni Conversations speaker series, for example, Paubel and Aurion Farhadi introduced themselves and invited Baxter to speak at an Accounting Club networking event, which he did.

“Warner had a wonderful message for students attending,” Countryman said. “Warner is a great example of an UMSL business alum making a big impact in the St. Louis region and beyond. The event was a big success thanks to Brett’s invitation and leadership.”

Paubel served as a supplemental instructor for Countryman’s Managerial Accounting class and as a graduate assistant tutor, and he was a student representative on the College of Business Administration dean search committee. He will be a student marshal at the commencement ceremony on Saturday. When he transferred from SWIC to UMSL, he won the President’s Scholarship, a full-ride scholarship given in conjunction with UMSL and regional community colleges. He also was given the prestigious Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants scholarship for the 2023-24 school year.

And the Student Leader of the Year award Countryman nominated him for? He won that, too, in a ceremony on April 22, 2024.

“That was one of the more rewarding moments of my time here,” Paubel said. “The accounting club, led by Angela Truesdale, decided to nominate me. They wrote a bunch of kind words and they didn’t have to do that. It was a very kind gesture by them. I was up against a lot of very deserving people, the type of people who are real mountain-movers. To win, it’s a big honor. It’s one of the more surreal, cinematic moments of my time at UMSL.”

Paubel actually had tickets to the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game that night, but when he found out he was nominated for the award, he gave away those tickets. Good thing, of course, though he makes sure to point out that game against the Diamondbacks ended on a dramatic walk-off home run by Nolan Gorman to give the Cardinals the early season victory. Paubel knows this because he’s a huge Cardinals fan, which is just one of the reasons he’s so excited about the next step in his career.

Paubel will start his job with PwC, one of the prestigious Big 4 accounting firms, in September, after a few months of intensive studying and sitting for the four-stage Certified Public Accountant exam in the first portion of 2025. PwC’s office space is a prime location for a Cardinals fan.

“I’m excited,” Paubel said. “The office is in Ballpark Village, and you can see most of the field. The downside is that I can hardly focus half the time on work with Busch Stadium right there.”

He’s kidding, mostly. Paubel did an internship at PwC last spring, and he’s excited to join one of the “Big 4” accounting firms as his first step out of UMSL.

“It was a firm I aspired to get into early on,” Paubel said. “I met some partners up front and I liked their culture, and it was something that I shot for. It’s really humbling, and it’s exciting. I know that my career will be set up really well because of it, and I’m jumping in head-first.”

PwC was one of several internships Paubel completed while studying at UMSL. The first was a tax internship with Scheffel Boyle in his hometown of Highland, Illinois, in 2022, and he had two focused on technology risk with EY – another Big 4 firm – in the summer of 2023 and again in the summer of 2024. As graduation approached, Paubel had a full-time job offer from EY, too.

While he’s created his own legacy at UMSL, he’s also added to the Paubel family legacy at the university. His mom and dad, Karen and Kerry, earned degrees at UMSL, and so have five of his siblings: Nole, Layne, Blaire, Ciara and Bryce. His sister, Alex, is a senior at UMSL who will finish with her bachelor’s and master’s, too. By the time she’s finished, the complete Paubel degree count will be a whopping 16, from nine different family members.

Needless to say, they’re all very proud of Brett.

“He has become so popular on campus that it’s surprising when accounting or business students don’t know him,” said his sister Layne Brown, who is the internship coordinator and an adjunct faculty instructor in the College of Business Administration. “Brett is kind, thoughtful and is known for making people feel seen. If you’ve had a bad day, he will go out of his way to make you know that you matter or to make you smile, doing things like buying you a snack, kombucha or coffee, or cracking a joke or just lending a listening ear.”

As graduation has approached, he’s spent time thinking back on his UMSL experience.

“I’m always a little bit split. A part of me is excited to start a new chapter, but because I’ve been so involved it feels like I am leaving a part of me behind, a part that I built up here,” he said. “I want to stay involved after I graduate to maintain the social aspect I feel like I’d be leaving behind. But, yes, I am excited. It’s going to be a fun step to turn the page and do something different.”