August 12, 2021

By Alaina Uricheck ’24

Accounting major Grace Peters ’23 spent her summer tackling the unique challenges of an international internship – gaining a “broader perspective of accounting policies in a foreign country” and adjusting to different time zones – all from the comfort of her own home due to continuing restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Grace Peters '23 Grace Peters ’23Peters interned remotely for Northern Ireland’s Lowden Guitars. Founded in 1974, Lowden Guitars is based in Downpatrick, County Down. The company produces handmade acoustic guitars, most notably for English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.

“I was shocked that a musician like Ed Sheeran purchases guitars from a small company and the company that I was interning for,” Peters said. “After reading that I was so excited for the opportunity to intern for Lowden Guitars.”

Peters interned as a member of Lowden’s accounting and finance department where she handled internal auditing – a skill she had not yet taken classes in at Susquehanna but one that is integral to Peters’ postgraduate goals.

“I wanted to learn internal auditing because I am aspiring to become a CPA, which is tax and auditing,” she said. “I hope to be able to travel and do taxes and auditing in foreign countries as well as the United States. In accounting, the United States follows the U.S. GAAP policies, whereas the rest of the world uses IFRS policies and there are differences between the two.”

Though Peters said it was not always easy scheduling meetings with her supervisors due to the time difference, she was still been able to gain insight into accounting and finance “in the real world.”