The A team: Ryan Wilson

Managing academics and athletics can be a challenge for any student-athlete. Between practice and weights, a rigorous competition schedule and the ever-present onslaught of tests and projects, life can be hectic.

So when your performance in the classroom garners you placement on both the 2005-06 Academic All-Big 12 First Team in Track & Field and the 2005 Academic All-Big 12 First Team in Cross Country, you have accomplished a lot, regardless of your chosen academic field of study.

When your courses are part of the prestigious Professional Program in Accounting (PPA) at The University of Texas at Austin, however, an accomplishment like the aforementioned is even more awe-inspiring.

Meet Ryan Wilson, senior distance runner at The University of Texas.

Wilson had taken three accounting classes while at Wichita Heights High School in Wichita, Kan., but it was not until after he enrolled in the McCombs School of Business during his second year at UT that he chose to study accounting. After applying his sophomore year, he was accepted into PPA.

Last November, PPA at Texas was ranked number one in the country for the 12th year in a row by the Public Accounting Report. In the five-year long program, students admitted into PPA concurrently earn their Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) and Master in Professional Accounting (MPA). The program is one of the most competitive at Texas, and its students are among the most sought-after graduates, regularly receiving offers from the big four accounting firms - Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In addition to a demanding course load, during the spring semester of their third year, PPA students go through a recruiting process that is characterized by two weeks of receptions, dinners and other events held by the accounting firms.

For Wilson, the recruiting period was an enjoyable, yet busy time. One firm took the students paintballing near Cedar Park, while another firm hosted a "Whose Line is it Anyway"-style comedy troupe from Dallas.

His hard work and long hours were rewarded when he was offered an internship at Ernst & Young in Austin for the summer of 2007. After his internship, Wilson will enter his fifth and final year at Texas next fall, taking all graduate-level classes (he is currently in two graduate level and three undergraduate level courses) before he sits for the CPA exam in the summer of 2008. After redshirting for two semesters earlier in his career, Wilson will have one year of athletic eligibility remaining next year.

Of his many business classes at Texas, one of his favorite professors on the Forty Acres was Lynn Dikolli who taught Accounting 358C: Introduction to Assurance Services. Within PPA, Wilson's chosen track is Financial Reporting and Assurance (Audit), making the real-world examples Dikolli provided that much more pertinent to Wilson.

"She had worked in the industry for twenty-plus years and was a partner at KPMG," Wilson said. "She had done many large audits and really knew what she was talking about,"

But it's not all accounting, all the time for Wilson. One of his favorite classes at UT was Social Work 311 with Dr. Michael Lauderdale. The class served as an introduction to the criminal justice system and culminated with a trip to the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville.

During the excursion, Wilson and his classmates were able to walk around the grounds and see firsthand where the inmates are held before executions.

"It was interesting to see up close, but it was definitely one of those experiences you want to have from the outside, not from the inside," Wilson admitted.

Between school and sport, Wilson tries his best to help his fellow cross country and track student-athletes. Since free time is hard to come by, he makes the most of the time spent during workouts.

"During some of our runs, we will get to talking and I'll just say 'Listen guys, study hall is your time to study, so be sure to use it. You'll be glad you did,'" Wilson said. "There are so many great resources at Texas; it's a shame for people not to use them."

But it's not necessarily only words of wisdom offered by Wilson during those long, tiring runs.

"We have some very interesting conversations," Wilson revealed. "We talk about anything from what we did the night before to random topics like music, movies, classes, people, neighbors and cars. We have even had whole conversations using only movie quotes.

"It's like when people sit down at dinner and have a conversation, and the next thing you know, 45 minutes have passed, and you are still talking about the same thing. It's a good way to pass the time instead of just running in silence for miles on end."

In addition to good conversation, Wilson brings incredible commitment to his track and cross country teams, as shown last year at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in Waco.

During the first lap of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Wilson fell after jumping over one of the barriers (36-inch tall hurdles that take up two to three lanes on the track), breaking a bone near his left elbow.

"At first I was just so frustrated because I had fallen at the Championship the year before," Wilson said. "Then I got up and just thought 'How does everything feel?' My legs felt fine, and the rest of my body felt fine. My wrist and shoulder were what hurt, so I tried to shake it out because I just thought I had jammed my arm (instead of broken it)."

Despite the pain, Wilson tucked his arm in near his side and ran the remainder, and majority, of the race with that broken arm, making up enough ground to finish in an astonishing eighth place. Due in part to that finish, he and his team went on to win the 2006 Big 12 Outdoor Championship, something he looks to match and eventually exceed this year.

With the drive and determination he has demonstrated both on the track and in the classroom, Wilson is well on his way.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics