I am so happy, thankful, and somewhat surprised that I’ve made it to this Saturday, still alive and well. Several times over the past couple of weeks I have wondered whether that’d be the case. You see, Thursday night was my first Intermediate Accounting midterm, and I’ve heard horror stories about this class, not only from other recent MPA students, but also from my father, an ’82 graduate of the McCombs accounting program.

But as it turns out, it wasn’t so bad. For maybe the second or third time in my college career, I can truthfully say I didn’t procrastinate when it came to studying for this test. I started last Sunday, and tackled a different topic each day, doing practice problem after practice problem after practice problem. On the night before the midterm, I timed myself as I took the 2008 midterm 1. I felt pretty comfortable with it at 10:30 p.m. and decided the best thing I could do at that point was get plenty of sleep. If there was one important thing I realized by doing all the practice problems, it was that an all-nighter before one of these exams would be a terrible idea. Solving these problems certainly takes an alert mind!

The test was long. It was during dinnertime. And it was tough. But it wasn’t impossible, and I felt well-prepared.

My professor, Dr. Shuping Chen, has done a terrific job at preparing in-depth answers and explanations to ALL of our practice problems, and this really helped me study well. And because she gave us the first exam from last year, I was prepared for the format and level of difficulty of the exam. One of the things that motivated me to keep studying hour after hour was the level of detail that Dr. Chen put in to the solutions manual. If she was going to spend THAT much time and effort on answers to optional problems, then it must be important and I had better keep studying. Time and time again, I am thankful and appreciative of the professors in this program. There is a reason the MPA program is ranked No. 1! It’s very tough but also very well-taught.

So maybe ACC 380k.1 isn’t as terrible as everyone makes it out to be. Or maybe they make the first midterm easier so that we don’t all suffer anxiety attacks. Who knows! I’ll have my answer by October 29, the date of our second midterm.