David Irizarry is an example of how a nontraditional student can be married while being successful in his college career at Weber State University.

Married during his second semester, Irizarry quickly learned what subjects interested him and went after them.

“I really enjoyed basic accounting,” he said. “I always thought about being a lawyer, but accounting is what really intrigued me.”

Irizarry was able to complete his undergraduate studies in eight semesters, while taking graduate program classes concurrently in his final undergraduate semester at WSU.

As a current graduate student at WSU, Irizarry continues his active role as Beta Alpha Psi’s vice president of public relations, helping to get some of the biggest accounting firms into WSU.

Mina Eastes, vice president of special events for Beta Alpha Psi, has worked with Irizarry in this regard.

“To keep those relationships with these firms, we encourage people to apply to these companies,” Eastes said, “so they will continue to have a presence and recruit students from WSU.”

Irizarry has been in his position with Beta Alpha Psi for three years and will continue upon graduating from the WSU Master of Taxation program.

Throughout his tenure at WSU, Irizarry has been known to take up to 19 credit hours, the equivalent of about six classes, in a semester.

“I pretty much didn’t have a weekend at times, but it was worth it,” he said.

Irizarry has already been to many job interviews with big-name companies, including Goldman Sachs and some of the big four accounting firms, one out of Portland, Ore., that is flying him out for an interview.

“Accounting really lets you have a diverse career,” Irizarry said.

He said he is especially excited about his job prospect with Goldman Sachs, which he said is more of a finance company than accounting.

“I never thought of myself as a prospect for them, but it is exciting.”

While attending WSU, Irizarry added to his already busy schedule an internship at Autoliv, where he undertook a project evaluating the company’s fixed books and comparing them to what is really there financially.

“I think it is really important to go for what you want in school, but to also be involved and have fun,” he said.

Irizzary graduated with his bachelor’s degree in accounting magna cum laude with a 3.89 GPA.

“School does come a little bit easy to me, but I work really hard,” he said. “Weber has encouraged me to leave my comfort zone and go the extra mile to get things done. It has also taught me how to manage my time so that I can do things efficiently.”

Irizarry is already in the Master of Taxation program at WSU. He was able to start the program before he completed his undergraduate degree. Irizarry has yet to walk and will do so in December, followed by his graduation walk with a master’s degree in April.

“I think he is really driven,” said David Fisher, a WSU freshman. “It takes a lot of commitment and self-motivation, and it shows the world that nothing is impossible.”