My name is Jenny, and while the plan (at the moment) is not to become a CPA, I am going back to school to get my Masters of Accounting. Megan has offered to let me chronicle my experience on her blog and I am excited to have a record of the ups and downs of graduate school!
There have already been several ups and downs, but I am officially registered for the Fall 2015 semester at the University of Colorado Denver. Before I get into the meat of the matter, I thought an introduction would be fitting to set the stage.
While I do not have a natural affinity for numbers, I do have a natural affinity for money. As a kid I managed to save up enough “chips” – little plastic disks we received for doing homework or chores – to buy a bike. My parents were quite floored when I brought out $100.00 worth of $0.10 chips and told them that I intended to trade them in for a bike. Interestingly enough, the chip system was discontinued soon afterwards . . .
I have always been interested in business, so I gravitated toward management classes as an undergrad. The first accounting class I took was like magic. It was so much fun! Putting numbers in tables and making all the balances match . . . yes, that really does give me jollies. I’m that girl.
By the second general accounting class required for business majors, I was still really enjoying myself – but I couldn’t commit. I am a huge commitment-phobe. Huge. I looked around and saw a bunch of people who really hated accounting and decided that switching to an accounting degree just wasn’t the right move. I don’t want to be a CPA, I decided, so that meant I didn’t want to be in accounting at all, right? I wanted to help run companies, not do someone’s taxes. Yes, for some reason I thought that CPAs did nothing but taxes and that the only way to work in accounting was as a CPA. I was silly and young. I’m still silly and young, but I was sillier and younger.
So fast forward two or three years. I graduated with a business degree and accepted the first job that got punted my way. I became an Accounts Payable/Billing Coordinator for a law firm.
An accounting job.
I quickly rediscovered my love of money management as I worked with the flow of money at my company. Thanks to encouraging bosses I have learned a lot over the last few years – but it has also become clear just how sketchy my real accounting knowledge is. A Masters in Accounting seems like just the thing to fix that problem!
After three years working in an accounting department, I know a lot more about what is really out there when it comes to possible accounting jobs. Now I think I know the path I want to continue down – becoming a CFO.
This brings us to the present! The next post will be about graduate school, I promise.
