The Life of an Accounting Major

Disclaimer: This is not meant to put down the accounting profession or anyone currently pursuing or in a career in this industry. It is a highly respectful career with great opportunities and rewards if it is the right path for you. I wish I could have been better at it so I could make use of all the training I'd received, but unfortunately it wasn't my calling. This is more about learning about yourself and the mistakes that can happen if you don't take the time to do that. It just so happens that accounting was part of my journey. Happy reading.

Date: Fall 1998

Time: Sophomore Year

Place: College lecture hall (200 people)

Class: Accounting Principles I

Story: Debits, credits, debits credits... pretty straightforward, extremely long-winded and time consuming especially as I move onto page 4 of the 8 page foldout of "ledger paper". The straightforwardness got the best of me and after acing both the mid-term and final (not because I am anywhere near being good at math, but most likely because we were allowed to use calculators) I am ready to move onto Accounting Principles II. Upon completing the course I know the work is boring and I hate how after working 2 hours on a problem, if I am off by 10 cents at the end, I have to go through every single item to figure out why I am not balancing my balance sheet, but admit that it was rewarding when everything did balance. Nonetheless, it was extremely straightforward, you always knew if you were right or wrong and at the end of the day, when you're done, you are done.

Date: Fall 1999

Time: Junior Year

Place: College classroom (50 people)

Class: Intermediate Accounting I

Story: So after the agony of not getting into business school the first time I around, I work my tail off to bring my GPA up and manage to get in with my second application. All that work and for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to get into business school because A) it was hard to get into and if I made it in, it must mean I'm smart! B) the idea of being a "business woman" was very glamorous to me even though I didn't know exactly what it entailed and C) actually it stops at A & B. The other part of applying to business school was figuring out what to major in. I guess it makes sense that since I didn't even exactly know what it meant to be a business woman that I wouldn't have any clue as to what to major in. I started out wanting to major in Management Information Systems because I thought it sounded cool, but unfortunately my Calc grades were not good enough to get in. After talking to a few people who said "If you don't know what you want to do in business, then accounting is a good starting place and stepping stone." Sold.

Back to current time and scene. I am sitting in a very small classroom and can barely understand what my professor is saying through his incredibly thick accent. I hear something about generally accepted accounting principles, materiality, matching, revenue but am not making a bit of sense of it. The scared eyes and blank faces of my classmates tells me that they don't get it either. Whew, so I am not alone. I go home with a ton of homework problems and reading to do, and after reading and trying to do, I still don't get it. Generally accepted accounting principles, materiality, and matching - I don't get it and I don't care and it's extremely boring trying to figure it out. All I do know is I hate accounting.

More than 50% fails the mid-term and that includes me. I am freaked out and not knowing what to do, and our professor cuts us some slack and offers to drop the mid-term and count only the final if we wish. I guess that was a little saving grace, but not really considering I have no idea what's going on already and trying to add all the final material on top of that probably won't help.

The night before the final I have a panic attack while trying to study. I end up crying in the bathroom and passed out on the floor where my roommates come home and find me. My girlfriends spend the night with me because I am a mess all the way through to the next day and one of them goes to my professor to tell him that I am very sick and cannot make the final. Even though it is b-school policy to not offer makeup exams he makes an exception for me. I manage to take the makeup exam a few days later and pass the class with a C. I have no idea how because I had no idea about anything in that class.

Date: Fall 1999

Time: Junior Year

Place: AIS group member's dorm room 5AM

Class: Accounting Information Systems (AIS)

Story: All accounting major predecessors said your first semester in accounting was a nightmare and there was no exception for me there. It truly was a nightmare. Everyone also said the boogeyman in this nightmare was the AIS professor and that also proved to be true. I was teamed up with 4 other people who I had to work with for both this class and my favorite Intermediate Accounting I class. Unfortunately, we did not get along at all and most of our sessions ended with all of us screaming at each other and storming off. There was the girl who thought she knew it all, the guy who thought he knew it all, the girl who didn't know anything, the girl who knew some stuff, and the male devil's advocate who enjoyed pissing people off. I was the girl who knew some stuff. Our semester project for AIS is to find a company with manual accounting operations and build an automated system for them using Microsoft Access. After many attempts throughout the course of the semester to segregate work and complete the step by step tasks, and all of our miserable sessions together, we end up in a member's dorm room the night before our presentation is due. And of course the project is not done. At 5AM I go back to my apt because I need a break, end up calling my parents crying and screaming hysterically about how much I hate accounting and I hate the people and I hate everything about it and don't want to do it anymore and can't do it anymore. My mom tells me it's ok and I will get through it, my dad tells me so go ahead and quit, it's not worth it if it is going to make you this way. My mom comes back on the phone and tells me not to listen to him and that i will get through it. OK. I stop crying, sit down and pull out my AIS book, figure out how to build buttons on your Access system, go back to my group who are all passed out and end up making buttons all the way up until it's time to go to class. We do our presentation and I think I ended up with a B in a class.

Thank goodness for my sorority and for dance troupes. Without both those groups I would have been completely miserable and possibly suicidal. My roommates and sorority sisters were my family away from home. They were the good part of my life and were there for me through everything. The dancing was my stress reliever from the world. Nothing, and I repeat nothing felt better than dancing up a storm for practices, performing on stage, and having people come up to you after and tell you that you were awesome and that you dance so well. I remember thinking on occasion, how cool would it be to actually do this and get paid for it. Unfortunately, it was only a fleeting far-fetched thought as my directives to become an accountant were taking over my life.

Date: June 2000

Time: Summer before Senior Year

Place: Cubicle in accounting department for a real estate company

Class: Real life 101

Story: Even though I hate accounting and am miserable, I am somehow staying on track with it. Looking back on it I think it was mainly because I had direction and was one to follow the crowd and quite frankly, had no idea what else I might do. I did argue a bit in possibly trying to change majors to MIS, but being that my parents were putting me through school, they would only pay for 4 years and after that I was on my own. If I changed majors at that point, I would be in school at least an extra year and I guess that didn't bode well for me at the time. As such, I found myself an internship at this real estate company trying to figure out what it meant to be an accountant. I was making $8 an hour at this job. Quite frankly, I don't think I learned much other than bank recs, which I got wrong every month, and setting up a filing system for legal documents, where I color coded file folders and grouped them into hanging folders. It was boring and I hated being in an office except for when I was hanging out with other office friends.

I come across this job positing for an accountant at the university foundation and it pays $15 an hour. More money, how exciting! It's down the block from my apartment and I can work whenever I want. Already all the perks and not the job itself start to take over my senses. I apply and get the job. Again am thinking I'm doing all the right things and am not (which I don't find out until my successor tells me after I leave). But all the while I am there, the bosses love me and think I am heaven sent. My parents love me because I have this job and am almost done with school. My relatives love me and are all impressed that I am studying to become an accountant. I take all of this praise as a good thing and figure I am on the right track.

Date: Fall 2000

Time: Senior Year

Place: Career Center

Class: Interviewing 101

Story: Everything is happening so fast that now it's time to look for a job because everyone else is. Being that I have no idea what else I could get a job in or I guess at this point don't even have any idea as to what I might be remotely interested in since my entire life has been in accounting to this point, I jump onto monster.com and start applying to the thousands of accounting positions open.

Having done so many interviews at this point for public accounting firms, I am now a natural. I manage to get 2nd interviews to a few accounting firms and quite a few offers, but I was going for the big one. Again, because it is oh so glamorous and cool and you are somebody if you got into one of the big ones. It came down to deciding between two offers, one at this mid-sized accounting firm where I would be auditing and I really like the family feel of the place, and the other at Arthur Andersen on the tax side. I ended up going with the evil giant.

Date: June 2001

Time: Senior Year

Place: Professor's Office

Class: Advanced Accounting I

Story: Professor is going over my final exam with me which I got a C on. He tells me he is disappointed and expected more from me, but I think he says that to everyone because I didn't talk to him once all throughout the semester. I could care less if he is disappointed or expected more or whatever. I got an A on the mid-term so I end up making out with a B for my final grade. I am just grateful I am done with my last college exam and class ever.

Lessons Learned (Many of which are common sense, but helpful lessons that I learned nonetheless)

1) If there is something you are interested in pursuing and are considering investing in to make it a long-term commitment, do your research!! I research everything all the time now and I can' t believe I didn't know back then that it could make all the difference.

2) If you spend all your time and effort pursuing something that you are not interested in, or that makes you miserable, STOP! It's ok to cut your losses, reassess and move on with something else. Think about how much better life would be by putting all the same time and effort into something you cared about and enjoyed. Even if it's not something that you're head over heels passionate about, at least be interested in it.

3) It's ok to want all the additional benefits and perks that comes along with a job, but a big part of it is also job satisfaction. Who cares if you have more money, a bunch of vacation days, and a 401k if you start every morning filled with dread and thinking you can't make it to the end of the week.

4) Those college years are meant to be used exploring different channels and finding out who you are, what interests you, what doesn't interest you, what your passions are, what you hate, what your skills are and what your weaknesses are. Take advantage of that time to do all of that!! I was stuck in such an "in the moment" time frame and all the things that just needed to get done right then and there (and have to admit was also a bit of a party girl as I had just been let off the leash from my Asian parents) that I didn't stop once for a second to think about the impact it would have on my future and my overall well-being. Yeah, I set myself up with a good job, but I was seriously depressed.

5) Follow your heart first before listening to what others tell you. Of course it's good to get advice and feedback from people who have been in your shoes, but at the end of the day, they do not know what is best for you - you know what's best for you. And you'll figure that out by learning who you are and learning how to listen to what your heart is telling you. I took all the praises from those around me to be a sign that I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing, when I spent every day crying and miserable and depressed. I listened to others around me before listening to myself.

6) You don't have to be on the same time-table as everyone else. It's better to move at your own pace and know what you're doing rather than be sucked into the whole stream of things while not having a clue!

Source: Personal experience