Archives for Alexandria

Accelerated Classes

Posted by  on Friday, February 15th 2013     

Accelerated classes can sometimes feel like learning in hyperspeed

Integrated students in the MPA program have an interesting spring semester during their 4th year. For most students, the semester is made up of a combination of a public accounting internship and accelerated classes. My fellow bloggers Jamal and Melissa have been telling their exotic tales of life as an audit intern, because their semester starts with an internship, and they will eventually come back to take their accelerated classes. Tax students, however, start their semester with accelerated classes and then move onto their internship. This means that my fellow 4th year tax iMPAs have been lost in textbooks while our audit friends are getting a taste of the real world.

My fellow tax MPAs and I had to start school on January 2nd. I can’t speak for everyone that was taking the tax accelerated classes, but it was a struggle coming back from a very short winter break and having to sit in 5 hours of lecture for three days straight. The first day back got even harder when in our corporate tax class, Professor Zvinakis announced “The best way to describe the workload in this class is… stunning.” She did ease the burden of the first day back by having Tiff’s Treats, but boy, she was in no way lying about the workload of her class.

I don’t think I have ever had to work so hard to stay afloat in an MPA course. The frequent homeworks, reading assignments, projects, and tests were mentally and physically taxing (pun completely intended). That being said, I have never learned so much in such a short period of time, and it was kind of nice to just completely immerse myself into a new subject. I also I feel I got a lot of hands on experience by being challenged to conduct frequent tax research and complete an expansive tax return for a corporation.

I also really appreciated the class because I feel Professor Zvinakis went above and beyond the call of duty to help us understand the material in a short period of time. First of all, she hosted review sessions that provided us with additional hands on practice of the concepts we were learning in class, despite the fact that she taught for five hours previously. I mean, I’m sure we have MPA faculty that love tax with every fiber of their being, but 6 hours of teaching tax has to be… taxing (sorry guys, I couldn’t resist. The pun ends here, I promise). On top of the additional optional review sessions, there were ample opportunities to ask questions in office hours each day Monday through Thursday.

On a more personal note, I really enjoyed this class because this is the first time in a long time my learning style has been addressed in an accounting class room. What I mean by that is that I have always been very much a big picture person and have had a hard time processing small details (which is just dandy in tax…. Believe me, I have tried to convince myself to pursue something else, yet tax simply fascinates me). But Professor Zvinakis not only taught the little details of corporate tax law, but also connected provisions to current tax policy, and clearly illustrated how certain little details can make huge economic effects.  Tax policy and its effects on the economy is the main reason I am truly fascinated by tax, and what drove my decision to become a tax-track MPA. All the work I was did to process the finesse of corporate tax law helped me understand the reasons that led to certain economic effects and I found it to be reassuring and rewarding.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience, but I am so glad to be done!

category: Academics, Alexandria
tags: , ,

Run Austin! (2.0)

Posted by  on Friday, February 1st 2013     

Last year I wrote a blog post about the best places to run around in Austin on a day to day basis, and mentioned a few of Austin’s most famous races. (Click here if you missed it!) Austin has a strong running community and a ton of marathons and races. With spring on the horizon, I thought it a good time to discuss a few of the best races to run in Austin.

My friends and I at the Color Run last year

Let’s start off with the fun races.  Color Run, coming in May (sign up open January 15th!), is one of the most fun and colorful races in Austin! It has a national tour, so you can run the race in other cities around the country. This is a 5K run, about 3.1 miles long, where volunteers throw dry paint at you at the start and after each 1K you complete. You start wearing all white, and finish a colorful mess. Once you finish you are given a bag of dry paint of your own, and there is a massive dance party by the finish line where everyone dances and throws paint. I did it with a few friends last year, and highly recommend the race to runners and non-runners alike.

Warning: Make sure you shower the paint out of your hair (yes, it will get in your hair) as soon as you get home. I didn’t get all of the paint out immediately, and my hair had pink and green sections for a week following the race because I let the paint sit for a few hours. Unfortunately for me, that week after the race was full of public accounting firm career nights. Nothing like colored hair for networking!

Braving the mud with some fellow MPAs

Another fun, and extremely messy, race for everyone to do is the Muddy Buddy. This race, also part of a national tour, is a partner race where you mountain bike and run. There are obstacles throughout the course, including a large mud pit you crawl through with your partner at the end of the race. I particularly enjoyed the costume contest at the beginning, where the funniest costumes received some recognition and appreciation. There are a lot of races in Austin similar to this one, in particular the Warrior Dash and Mud Run.

The Gorilla Run may be one of the strangest races in Austin. Instead of a race t-shirt, each race participant receives a full gorilla costume to run in. Volunteers run dressed as bananas for the gorilla-clad racers to chase through Austin’s streets.

Austin has a number of zombie runs in the winter, where you attempt to outrun zombies as they chase you throughout an urban course.  I have also noticed many “urban-challenge” races as well. These are similar to the TV show “The Amazing Race” where you complete tasks around the city on foot, or take part in a city-wide scavenger hunt.

Come out the the LiveSTRONG half marathon and find me in my infamous Waldo race costume in the crowd!

Finally, I am going to make one final push for something I think everyone in Austin should take part in, whether it be racing or volunteering. I really think everyone should take part in the LiveSTRONG Marathon and Half Marathon while they are in Austin. It is a very energetic and inspiring race that I feel is unrivaled. Only slightly less than 3 weeks away! And, in case you are feeling particularly generous, I am raising money for the LiveSTRONG Foundation as a member of Team LiveSTRONG again this year, and you can see my personal page here.

category: Alexandria, Austin, Events, Student Life

Lessons We Can Learn from College Football

Posted by  on Tuesday, January 15th 2013     

I’m sure it is no surprise that Longhorn football is an inherent part of the culture and collegiate experience at the University of Texas at Austin. I personally have been raised to understand and love the game, but I know not everybody has the same passion for the game that I do. I believe that football is so popular because it can be so much more than a game and I have learned a few key lessons about life and management from being a football fan.

Lesson 1 – You can’t control everything –as frustrating as it is, you just can’t. This ability to accept a lack of control is a good lesson for life, because as much as we try to, the future is inherently uncertain. Events will occur no one could have predicted, and it good to be aware of what you can control and what you can’t.

Lesson 2 – Odds are that there are people more skilled for a particular task than you are –no matter how frustrated I get, and think I could get the get the job done, it’s always wise to remember that I may not be the most skilled. I also have to remind myself that my Longhorn team is only human, and mistakes will therefore be part of each and every game, and I shouldn’t be upset when they happen. Each player  had to have been very talented in order to make the team, and it’s important to rely on them and their skill sets and trust in their ability to do their job.

Lesson 3 – Success takes time –when a college football team wins a national championship, it’s easy to overlook the 3-4 years of building preparation and effort on the team’s part. National champions aren’t born overnight, success takes time.

Lesson 4 – Practice and preparation are key – I think two quotes can sum up this lesson pretty handily. The first is by Sun Tzu from the Art of War, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” The second is by our own beloved former football coach Darrell K. Royal, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

Lesson 5 – Don’t let the odds get you down –my high school cross country coach always had this little gem of wisdom: “there’s a reason they don’t play sports on paper.” Upsets and unpredictable outcomes are an inherent part of college football and life. Just because success may appear unlikely, doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Lesson 6 – Adjustments mid-game can make all the difference –many football games are won or lost during halftime based on the coach’s ability to make adjustments to his strategy based on how the opponent is playing. There seems to be a strong correlation between changes made at halftime and the outcome of the game. Play the game and make the adjusts needed  along the way.

Congratulations to our Longhorns and their victory in the Valero Alamo Bowl!

category: Alexandria, Student Life
tags: , ,

Happy New Year!

Posted by  on Monday, January 7th 2013     

Last year I wrote a blog about New Year’s resolutions, so this year I thought I’d switch it up and look at the past year in review. And because accountants love numbers so much, let us take a look at the past year in numbers.

300: Hours of lost sleep

268: Number of Intermediate Accounting problems worked

750: Cups of coffee drank

64.5: Hours spent researching tax law

90: Number of hours spent at McCombs studying during finals

10: Number of Esteemed Lyceum Speakers

13: Number of football games I wish I we had won

9: Number of football games actually won

11: Number of interceptions thrown by UT quarterbacks in 2012 (ugh, this just pains my heart)

28: Number of volleyball games won on the pursuit of the national championship (and this one warms my heart right back up!)

13: Number of Longhorn medals in the 2012 London Summer Olympics (6 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze)

67: Number of all-time gold medals won by Longhorns (not a 2012 fact, but this picture definitely went viral in the UT network during 2012)

309: Number of new MPA candidates admitted

2: Number of MPA Council awards given at 2012 spring commencement

100: Number of years UT Accounting has celebrated

7: Number of years in a row UT Accounting has been ranked #1 at the graduate level

2: Number of National Championships won by Longhorns this year

1: Number of med schools coming to the UT Austin community

2012 was clearly a fantastic year, and here’s to 2013 being as equally memorable and classy!

Keep it classy, Longhorns.

category: Academics, Alexandria, Centennial, MPA Council, Student Life
tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

MPA Council: Best Decision of my MPA Career

Posted by  on Tuesday, November 6th 2012     

One of my biggest passions in the MPA Program: MPA Council. Since the council is involved in so many areas of student life, it’s hard to fully describe it in a blog post. I’ll attempt to present a good overview of the group and if you have questions I haven’t answered, don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

What is MPA Council?

Before I describe the Council, I am going to describe the MPA Program the way I currently see it. The MPA Program is composed of 4 groups: students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Each of these groups have a lot to offer the program, and there will come a time you need help from one of these groups, and it pays to have a variety of contacts in each group to get things done.  One of the overall long term goals of MPA Council is to be a central body that facilitates communication between these four groups. I love diagrams, so I have drawn a diagram to illustrate this.  For example, if the MPA Program Office had a new idea, and wanted to gage student interest, it could talk to the Council and the Council could gain insight from a large number of students. The Council’s overall mission is to create a community within the MPA Program. It is commonly interpreted that this means the Council provides MPA students to get to know each other in a variety of settings. This is true, but more than that, the Council is about establishing a community within the four aspects of the program I described earlier. In other words, the Council hopes to synergize the unique and extremely proficient skill sets and capabilities of each of these groups and use them to ensure our program is the best in the nation.

MPA Council members at our boat party on Lake Austin

The council provides members with professional, academic, community service, and social events to participate in. Some of the events hosted this year include a boat party on Lake Austin, State of Accounting discussion with Dr. Lillian Mills, the Accounting Department’s Centennial Celebration with our lovely mascot Bevo, and a PhD panel (you can see pictures from our events here). Coming up we have Ethics Week, speakers for our distinguished speaker series, Faculty Appreciation Week.

Why did I join the Council?

I remember sitting at orientation listening to the professor panels, and professors saying how important it was to know your classmates for group cases and the importance of studying with classmates. I started freaking out, as I only know about 5 people on a speaking basis in the entire integrated class, and I was convinced I was going to fail everything. They talked about the Council at orientation, and I dove in so I could meet my fellow MPAs outside of the classroom. It was the best decision I have made in relation to my MPA degree. I have met so many people with distinct backgrounds and perspectives that I would never have been able to do in the classroom. It’s also provided me so many opportunities and resources within the MPA Program I don’t think I otherwise would have had.

What is my favorite part about the Council?

My personal favorite event of the Council is Member’s only Monday. One Monday a month, the Council provides its members with bagels, breakfast burritos, and coffee. It’s a come and go event, but it’s nice to sit in between classes with lovely MPAs and have a delicious free breakfast!

category: Academics, Alexandria, MPA Council, Student Life
tags: ,
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