Four accounting students from the University of Idaho’s College of Business and Economics traveled to Alaska in February to volunteer with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, according to a May 8 announcement. The group, consisting of Hannah Westergaard, Alexa Smith, Anna Bliss and Young Sim, prepared for their ten-day trip by packing supplies including sleeping bags, laptops and freeze-dried food.
The VITA program offers tax preparation services to qualified individuals as part of an Internal Revenue Service initiative. At the University of Idaho, student volunteers become certified through IRS training before traveling to locations where assistance is needed. This year’s team prepared approximately 160 tax returns across multiple remote communities.
“I’m not an adventurous person, so participating in a program like this, which is way outside my comfort zone, will really stick with me,” said Westergaard. Sim added that seeing clients face-to-face was different from classroom learning: “We know the taxpayer from our textbooks, but now they are sitting in front of you with their whole community behind them.”
Bliss described how certification and real-world application provided valuable experience: “To get our actual certifications and then go out, apply what we’ve learned and see how it affects people is a big eye-opener,” she said. “You’re not just learning and repeating information; you’re actually impacting people’s livelihoods.”
The students coordinated with Small Business Development Centers to set up local sites for appointments. They faced challenges such as lack of road access or cell service in many villages and lingering disruptions from Typhoon Halong in late 2025 that affected phone service.
Community members welcomed the students by sharing home-cooked meals and inviting them into cultural events like Potlatch celebrations. Smith noted unique aspects of local life: “Winter months are so perpetually cold; locals don’t include the word ‘negative’ in front of the weather temperature… And when it’s this cold, no one has extra time to stand outside using extra words!”
