Ian Folinsbee
Ian Folinsbee counts music as one of his biggest passions. Counting numbers will be his career.
Folinsbee has been playing drums in the sludge metal band, Pris, for the last 10 years and his dream would have been to continue doing that professionally.
There comes a point in everyone's life, though, when they have to make a decision about where their best chance of success lies.
For Folinsbee, education and an eventual career would help him pursue his love of music. Ironically, music has been an outlet that helps him focus in the classroom.
After starting in the Bissett School of Business Entrepreneurship concentration three years ago, he took his first accounting class.
The professor left such an indelible impression upon him that he changed majors the following fall.
"Mount Royal exposed me to a side of business that I had never experienced and it had an immediate influence on me," says Folinsbee.
Folinsbee soon found himself volunteering with the Bissett Accounting Students Society, which allowed him to get to know his professors better. What he realized is they weren't just teachers but individuals who want their students to succeed.
Loving the ink
That experience has left a lasting impression with Folinsbee, almost as permanent as the tattoos reaching up his arm.
"Connecting with my instructors on a personal level inspired me to get more involved with my studies and with extracurricular activities within the Bissett
School of Business.
"Being invited to events and committees and meeting people from the industry took my education and experience to a new level," he says.
It all adds up
At the time this article was written, Folinsbee will have taken his Certified Management Accountant entrance exam.
Although he has discovered a career path that is personally rewarding, music is never far from his mind.
"To get back behind the kit and hammer out some beats once that exam is out of the way is going to feel really, really good," Folinsbee says.
- Fred Cheney