When BYU Marriott School of Business student Audrey Vengesai took her first accounting class at 13 years old, she says she fell in love with solving complex puzzles of information. As she continues her studies with the support of her family and professors, Vengesai says she has seen how moments of her life connect and build upon each other.
Vengesai grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe, with her three siblings and her mother—her father died when she was only 11. Her mother, despite her hardships, ensured her children kept going to school: “She had a vision for me and my siblings.” Vengesai says she saw her mother’s vision became reality when her older sister graduated from college online and left Zimbabwe to begin her career internationally. “Seeing my older sister and her career has been very inspiring to me.”
When she turned 19, Vengesai served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Zimbabwe and at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. After returning home, Vengesai followed her sister’s example of international study and began her accounting studies at BYU–Idaho. She then transferred to BYU in Provo while building a family of her own.
Just two semesters after Vengasi transferred to BYU, her newborn daughter was hospitalized. Worried about falling behind in her classes and the looming accounting program application deadline, Vengesai reached out to her accounting professor. “She was flexible and very accommodating; she asked the class to pray for my daughter and for me,” Vengesai says. “She might not even remember me, but I will always appreciate what she did for me during that time.”
After weeks in the hospital, Vengesai’s daughter recovered enough to return home. With the help of her professor, Vengesai kept up with her classes; she completed her application to the SOA and began the junior core in 2024.
Vengesai interned at Ernst & Young last summer before returning to BYU Marriott to begin the MAcc program. “Even after taking accounting classes for so long, I still learn something new in every class,” she says. “It’s amazing to see how the concepts fall together. Everything connects; that’s what I love about accounting.”
And that connection extends beyond the classroom walls, Vengesai explains. In ACC 591R: Africa Accounting Education, Vengesai and her peers taught BYU–Pathway Worldwide accounting students. Throughout the semester, MAcc students took turns teaching the main lesson and then were each assigned five students to teach in breakout rooms. “It has been amazing to be able to take what I’ve learned so far and try to break it down for other students—to help them learn accounting and get excited for it,” Vengesai says.
Most of the students she taught were from African countries; still, Vengesai was surprised to enter a breakout room and recognize someone she taught as a missionary in Zimbabwe. “It was very heartwarming to see my mission come together with what I’m working toward,” she says. “I am very passionate about Zimbabwe and giving back to the community that has raised me.”
After she graduates, Vengesai hopes to return to Zimbabwe to give her community the same support and inspiration that helped her get to where she is now. “I want to put myself in a place where I can be an example that young girls like me can see,” she says. “I want them to know they can work hard for something, too.”
Vengesai says she’ll continue working hard toward her goal, but she’s trying not to stress over fitting all the pieces together herself. “I feel like I spent so much of my energy worrying about my grades, if I’d even be able to get into the MAcc, or if I’d achieve anything,” Vengesai says. “But what I’ve seen in my life is that as long as I’m trying my best, as long as I’m working hard, God always fulfills his promises to me.”
