Growing Up

It's weird how quickly time goes. Honestly, every single time a Thursday comes around, I'm shocked. I felt like I JUST was celebrating the end of the week like, the day before. On a more long-term scale, I was reminded of how quickly time flies today. For my job, I brought a group of students from a small, in-state liberal arts school to visit our program. There were 6 students and one professor. The students ranged from sophomores to seniors with varying levels of interest in doing a MAcc. It wasn't really a "prospective student" visit; it was more of a "here's what a MAcc is, here's why you should consider getting one, and here's why our program is good," thing. Just in talking to the students briefly I realized how INSANELY young they seem to me, and how absurdly old I feel around them. And I'm young for my age! I mean, I should be 23. Anyway, it was just crazy. The sophomore came up to me and asked about my internship experience and about applying for them. She said, "Yeah, I'm just now starting to look into them, like where I want to apply, and what kind of internship I want..." First of all, props to her because she's actually almost a full year ahead of schedule. Second of all, it seriously does not seem like that long ago when I was sobbing on a daily basis about getting an internship. But that was actually over two years ago. And think about how much has happened in those two years!! I had my internship, accepted a full-time offer, graduated from college, moved out of my parents' house, started grad school, saw good friends get married.... Like... I'm sorry, WHEN did this all actually happen? Because apparently I missed it!

And then I think about how crazy this next year is going to be, and I have a feeling that it's going to fly by, too. One year from now, I will have graduated from my master's program, taken (and hopefully passed) the CPA exam (oh, you know, just the most important test I will ever take in my life), and STARTED MY FULL TIME JOB. Oh, and possibly moved in with my boyfriend (how grown uppp). It doesn't even seem possible. I'm freaking out haha. Slash... I'm really, really excited. The past few years went crazy fast but they were beyond enjoyable. So I'm certain this next year will be just as great :) But... oh man. Time is just crazy.

My life lately

My life has been pretty great lately :) Minus the copious amounts of work, which is why I'm currently in my house at 8:30pm on a Friday night... nasty.

Recent great things:
+ my birthday! It was wonderful. I received numerous cards, phone calls, messages, etc. and it just really brightened my day! I got to go home for a traditional birthday dinner at my house, consisting of my mom's lasagna (amazing) and angel food cake! mmm. My grandparents were there, too, which was nice! I also got some awesome presents... including Guess Gold perfume which is delicious, in case you haven't smelled it.

+The OSU/Iowa game!!! I am SO glad I was there! By winning in overtime, the Buckeyes clinched both the Big Ten title AND a spot in the Rose Bowl!! All of the students rushed the field and it was just an absolutely wonderful atmosphere. We got to just hang out on the field for awhile... people were just laying on the field, soaking it all in. Here's a picture of what we looked like:


Preeeetty amazing.

+MAcc friend situation = improving. I've hung out with them a lot lately, and I really, really enjoy them. They're just laid back and fun to hang out with. I wouldn't go so far to call many of them my FRIENDS, but... I have fun with them, they're nice to me, they include me in things... what more could you want haha.

+the thought of Thanksgiving being so close!!! Then the thought that AFTER Thanksgiving, I only have TWO WEEKS OF SCHOOL. And that INCLUDES finals!!! YAYYYY.

Other random thoughts:
+I can.not. wait for my boyfriend and my frooms to come back to Columbus (or even just Ohio, for that matter).
+I have to tell you about my experience with the Chinese businessmen. Sooo one of the MBA ambassadors at work had to help put together this visit for a bunch of Chinese businessmen. They were mostly middle-level managers... a few executives. There were probably about 15 of them in total. Somehow I got roped into giving them a tour of our building with another MAcc ambassador. So we went to the room that they were in so we could wait for them to be finished so we could take them on their tour. It was pretty awesome. They had a translator, because they really couldn't speak English much at all. I've never really been in the presence of a real translator haha I just see them on tv. And it was just really awesome to observe, because they were talking about how important it is for the US and China to work together in education... I believe this was the same day that Obama was in China speaking to Hu Jintao. So kinda cool. Anyway, so after that whole formal process of 'welcome to our school' was over, we took them on the tour. It. Was. So. Hilarious. They were obsessed with me for some reason? A few of the younger guys were like, clearly daring each other to come up and talk to me. Sooo funny. Then they ALLLLLL wanted their picture with me. At one point, I was about to take a picture with one guy, and their "leader" literally kicked him out of the picture so that HE could get a picture with me. Amazing. Then one of the guys spoke English pretty well and came up to me and said, "My friend wants you to have his name card so that you can have his contact information so you can come visit him in China sometime, maybe come to his business." Seriously, so awesome. I got a business card all in Chinese. So yeah... homeboy, I'll definitely just read the Mandarin and come visit you haha.

+I'm still emo about staying in on a Friday night. Sigh. But I'm going to be even MORE emo if I did it for nothing... aka I must get stuff done. Adios!

Grad School Pros/Cons

I have realized that, since coming to grad school, my life is both better off and worse off. Some examples:

Not-so-Good Things About Grad School
-My self-confidence has plummeted. Since coming to grad school, I have received a legitimate 0% on a quiz, and I have also failed a midterm worth 30% of my grade. The fact that I have to maintain a 3.0 to even stay in the program does not help alleviate my stress. In addition, I constantly feel dumb in class/group meetings. I'm surrounded by absolute geniuses, and after being sort of at "the top of the class" for every other year of my life... it's kind of hard to swallow.

-Everyone talks about the CPA exam and it stresses me out beyond belief. Literally just hearing "CPA exam" gets my stomach all fluttery. I do not even want to think about it. I have to start studying in the spring :(

-MBA students. They suck. They think they are the shit and they are not. The end.

-As MAcc students, we tend to get called on during classes in which there are other non-MAcc students (MBA, HR students, etc.) to answer technical accounting questions. This is not fair. I cannot have my entire undergraduate accounting textbook library memorized. I'm sorry. It's just not possible.

-Grading seems inconsistent. In some classes, the curve is enormous. In others, it's either non-existent or very minimal. One professor said he will "decide at the end of the quarter whether or not he feels like giving out plusses or minuses." Um... that could possibly determine whether or not I'm allowed to stay in the program, so feel free to "decide" a little earlier.

-Just the horrible, horrible amount of time required to do ANYTHING. Projects, memos, case studies, reading... anything. I'm so sick of staying up until 2 AM researching accounting rules.

Awesome Things About Grad School
-As mentioned before, I am getting a definite reality check about my intelligence level. However, I also view this as a good thing. I guess we all need one every once in awhile, huh?

-This might seem kind of minor, but whatevs. The average age of people in my building is probably around 25 (due to the MBA students being older and whatnot). This is INCREDIBLE news. Why? Because I am no longer using the same bathroom as people who think they can leave pee on the seats. Seriously. It's awesome. You never have to worry about people leaving the seat a mess, or not flushing. You can pick ANY STALL and actually get to use it. I am very thankful.

-My resources. By being a MAcc student, I'm truly able to access a LOT of resources I wouldn't have been able to access before. This includes access to research materials/databases, great physical facilities, a staff that will bend over backwards to help you fix something or get you access to something, etc.

-My professors. They. Are. So. Smart. It blows me away. I am being taught what is essentially how to do the research I'll need to do for auditing... by a guy that was a partner with Arthur Andersen for 15 years. I'm being taught corporate tax by a guy that writes the most commonly used tax textbook in the country. Like... who even ARE these people and why on earth are they teaching?? I'm in a corporate financial reporting class with a professor that hasn't bragged about his credentials, so I have no idea what his background is, but he is probably one of the smartest people I've ever met. As of right now, his class is the most helpful class I've ever taken in my life. I'm just so happy that I get to interact with these professors on a daily basis.

-My classmates. As I mentioned earlier, they are unbelievably smart. Part of me hates them, because they are making me look bad, but part of me LOVES them because they are simply so good at what they do. Most of them are just naturally smart, but some of them have worked SO hard to get here. There are people here that weren't accounting majors. I'M struggling, and I WAS an accounting major. Some of them did not take intermediate accounting until 6 weeks before our program started... and they're still here, so they're obviously doing okay. I am SO proud of them for working so hard. And plus, they're fun to go out with :) And we make corny accounting jokes and everyone laughs. Haha love it.

-My job! I love being a student ambassador. I mean, I get 1/2 of my tuition waived because I'm doing something I love to do. I just answer emails all day from prospective students. For example, international students have a lot of questions about the language exams they have to take (TOEFL) and the also have to get their transcripts evaluated, so they have questions on that, too. Or people want to know certain things about the application, etc. The other part of my job is scheduling visits for people who we think are legit. If you know anything about me, you know I LOVE bragging about things I'm involved with, and i LOVE planning things. Therefore... I have the best job.

-Overall, just feeling like I'm learning a lot. Now... this is very class-specific. Do I feel like I'm learning anything in finance? No, not at all. I was lost in that class from day 1, and I've stopped caring. Am I learning anything in corporate tax? I hate the subject, and it's not INCREDIBLY relevant to me, so I try not to, which is probably horrible to say. But do I feel like I'm learning a lot in my research class and in my corporate financial reporting class. They're the most relevant to me, and I like those professors the most, which probably says a lot. But I just really feel like I'm learning stuff in those classes that is SO RELEVANT to my career... which is exactly why I decided to do the MAcc to begin with - I knew I had a ton more to learn.

Well... I should be doing homework as usual. Vom. Bye. :)

Example of why I suck at school

This is one (of several) reasons why I am currently NOT doing so well in grad school:

"Barnes & Noble purchases CDs from record companies and they can't be returned. They purchased 18,000 copies of K-Fed's album 'Playing With Fire' for $11. The retail price was $16. Almost 13,000 CDs did not sell. Barnes & Noble would need to sell the remaining CDs for about $9 to break even overall. True or false?"

Now, ignoring the fact that this is actually probably the easiest problem I've encountered in grad school thus far... SERIOUSLY? You expect me to FOCUS when I'm given problems about K-Fed not selling albums?!?! Omg. Ridiculous.

Another example:
"On 4/10/09 my son was home from school and cleaned out his room for once. He found a $25 gift certificate I had purchased forh im as a birthday gift on 6/13/07 from AMC Theaters. The gift certificate expired 12 months from the day of purchase. What is the accounting treatment on 6/13/07, FYE 12/31/07, and 6/13/08?"

Okay. All I'm thinking is, "omg, what an ungrateful child. He just made you waste $25. It's not like he DIDNT go to the movies during that year... he clearly just forgot you bought it for him. That's so sad." Like... am I thinking, "hmm, this is probably unearned revenue for the first 12 months..."? No. No I am not. I am thinking about Dave Williams' ungrateful son.

In other news, in a completely unrelated class (tax) I got my first ever zero. On a quiz I legitimately studied for. And it's worth 5% of my grade.

Ohhhh grad school.

aw.

Today I got a completely random but really nice compliment. I was at work, helping another ambassador with a visit. Two students and two professors from a small school in Iowa came to find out more about our program. I was part of a student panel, and then I went to lunch with them. After lunch, we all went back to our building and the other ambassador took the two students on a tour of the building. Meanwhile, I was chatting with one of the professors. During the panel, I had mentioned that I was going into auditing. While we were talking, the professor just goes (out of nowhere) "You are going to make a really great auditor; I can just tell." And I was so taken aback. I literally said, "Um... what?! Why!?" Haha great, how professional. And he said, so sincerely, "I was an auditor for 15 years before becoming a professor. So much of that job is personality. You have the personality for it. Your communication skills are great, and you just seem really personable." I was like, so blown away. I don't even KNOW this guy. I had literally only spoken to him directly during the panel... we were at opposite ends of the table during lunch. I just that was so, so incredibly nice. Hooray for random acts of kindness :)

All Natural Cheetos

I just got back from the grocery store where I purchased All Natural White Cheddar Cheetos.



They are delicious. Of course, the fact that they're all natural means I can eat like, the whole bag at once and still be okay, right?

Oh, sex boy.

I finally spoke to sex boy in person today. This was the first time that's happened. I've knocked on his door a few times, and no one's answered... although the last time I knocked, his FRIEND answered and was super nice about the loud music emitting from my floor/his ceiling. I've even written a note. Today, however, when I went to knock... he answered! He didn't even say a single word. It went like this:

[i knock on door]
[he opens it]
me: HI! could you please turn down the bass a little bit?
him: [grunt]
me: THANKS!
[i run away]

So... I mean, he turned it down, but my floor is still vibrating a bit. I really just think we have a horribly thin shared wall. It's not really fair to either of us. I should be allowed to sit in my couch without it vibrating, and he should be able to turn up his music. Vom.

Cat lady that lived across from me moved out today. It made me slightly sad. She was SO QUIET. I NEVER heard her, even though we share one huge wall. It also just makes me nervous because what if another sex boy moves in? Fingers crossed it is an old lady or something. Or, better yet... someone my age exactly like me. HOORAY!

I have done NOTHING with my life in the past 2 days. After I got home last night from the gym (around 7), I did NOTHING. I didn't have any homework! AMAZING. Then today my tax class was canceled, which meant I didn't have to be on campus until 1:30 for my other class (as opposed to 10:30 for tax). So I drive to campus... get there around 1:05... and I wait until 1:24 for a bus that supposedly comes every 7 minutes. And of course at this point I was going to be AT LEAST 15 minutes late for class. And of COURSE this is the professor that said on the first day of class not to even bother coming to class if you're going to be late. Great. Great.

So I texted a girl in the class, and she, too, thought it best that I not show up 15 minutes late. She promised to give me her notes, so I guess that's good. I HATE missing class. This is my first time missing a MAcc class, too... sad day.

Yeah, so I literally haven't done a THING all day. Unless you count hanging up pictures and watching hours of Roseanne and Say Yes to the Dress "doing something." And like... I don't have any homework for tomorrow, either. This is a fluke week or something, I don't know. Like, I KNOW of stuff coming up, but my professors haven't discussed the assignments yet, so I can't start them. Oh, crazy grad school.

I hate being a waste of space. I don't know what to dooooo. I cleaned a little bit... stretched some... I don't know. There's not much to do alone haha.

I'm 90% sure the bass just got louder again. Ohhh how I am going to call the office tomorrow.