Category Archives: Riny

Riny’s blog posts.

Riny, Student Life

Happy Thanksgiving

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It was warm for a couple of days in Austin, and then it suddenly dropped to 47 degrees today. Curling up on the sofa with a warm drink and good company feels awesome….

Unfortunately, this languidness is not forever. I have assignments due on Monday, and I am kinda dreading waking up tomorrow coz I know I have work to do. But I have no choice. Too many mid-terms next week. Seems like the break makes professors feel like giving us more than the usual amount of work because they think we would get the time to do it. And students, more often than not, end up leaving some work for the break and then regretting it. (I hear my inner voice screaming, “Time management Riny! Why didn’t you finish up some of this so you could enjoy your break a little more?”)  True. But then… part of student life is doing things last minute once in a while. And hating it. And then telling oneself that things will be very different next semester. (They will be!)

Thanksgiving is pretty special this year, ’cause it’s my son’s first. Even if the day is short-lived, it sure is nice to have some time off from school to spend with family. Even if it was just humble ready-to-eat defrosted stuff. It was special because the Mathais (all 8 of us) ate together. That’s something we don’t get to do that all that often. And it was nice to see my 3-year-old nephew polishing everything off his plate. I promise myself I will set a home cooked meal on my table next year for him!

Here is wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Hope you all had at least some time to spend with loved ones. And time to reflect on the things you have to be grateful for.

I know I had 🙂 And for that also, I am grateful!

Academics, Career, Riny, Student Life

When All Else Fails, Go With Your Gut!

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Professor Jeri Seidman
Professor Jeri Seidman

People don’t necessarily make better decisions when they are more informed. I think intuition is more important than information, most of the time. In the book, Blink, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell talks about how people often make great decisions based on an inner feeling. It’s a really good read.

Anyway, I found this to be true (at least for myself) this semester.

I really like my Intro to Tax with Professor Jeri Seidman, not because I love learning about rules (or more appropriately, their exceptions) though the night, but because of the way they focus on preparing students for real work (and world) issues. For example, I was watching the MSNBC show, “Meet the Press” last week and David Axelrod, White House senior adviser, was talking about the some challenges associated with extending the Bush tax cuts. I appreciate some of the problems he was talking to a much larger degree now, more so because Professor Seidman had briefly talked about about them in class. And that feels good. Another speaker (whom I don’t remember now) was talking about why there there may be no real correlation between tax cuts and job creation, which I found pretty interesting as well. I ended up discussing some of these topics during an interview, and found myself really getting along with the person who was interviewing me! (Side note – regarding bringing politics into interviews – I would say…Please don’t do it!) However, the fact that I had an opinion was something that my interviewer really liked. And his responses and questions really helped me gauge the culture of the firm I was interviewing with. Basically, what I think I am trying to say is, I have found myself leaning towards firms for inexplicable reasons. People always talked about “culture-fit” and I thought that it was just a lot of nice sounding words. It’s not. Many of my classmates also talk about “gut feelings” and how they have helped make their decisions about which firms to join. I really believe that is what it boils down to for most people. Feeling comfortable.

So what is the culture at UT? Well, the culture is defined by the people here. And what words would I use to describe them?

Energetic? Yes, for sure.

Ethical? Yep.

Professional.

Fun.

But what makes faculty and students at UT stand out?

….Being here for three months, I would  say it is the standards they strive for.

So, if you ever find yourself trying to make a decision for school, work or anything else…and you have some tough choices, try narrowing them down based on instinct. And if UT is one of those choices, just think to yourself: Do I want to be with people who set the bar high? If you answered yes, then you would fit right in!

Academics, Career, Riny, Student Life

My Accounting Story: Not Your Typical Daytime Drama

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by Riny Varghese

Why accounting? My family, friends, teachers, recruiters, almost everyone has asked me that question. To be honest, I’ve been asking myself the same question every day. Growing up, it never crossed my mind that I would be an accountant. So how did it all begin? This isn’t your typical afternoon soap opera…This is the story…

Decision to pick accounting

I graduated high school with a set goal that I would be a journalist. However, after realizing that it was not the career I could see myself doing for the rest of my life, I let go of this goal and decided to consider other options. I went to a community college in California, where I took so many random classes, none of which would lead me to a clear career path. I went through a period of confusion and frequently switched majors. I thought I was going to be an engineer, a computer scientist, a pharmacist, or an English teacher. I was in a state of panic, because I didn’t know what to do with my life. That’s when I decided to take the careers assessment test at my college’s counseling center, and voila–accounting was one of the most compatible careers for me. Coming from a family of engineers, I did not know anything about this field. I decided to take an accounting class and liked it. Close to the end of the semester, my accounting professor talked with me to ask if I was interested in majoring in the subject. I told him I was considering it, but he reassured me that it is a great field to get into and that he could see my potential to do well in the subject.

Transferring to the McCombs School of Business and the MPA program

I was very excited that I got into the No. 1 Accounting program in the nation. Unfortunately, my first semester in the program was far from a smooth ride. I was struggling to keep up with all my classes, and I felt that I was very unprepared for the rigor of courses in McCombs, not to mention the MPA program. It was the first time I received C’s on my exams.  I questioned my abilities, my motivation, my career path–why am I in accounting? I went through another period of confusion. I was about to switch majors again, when I realized that I was just trying to escape failure. I am not a quitter. I changed my perspective and learned to appreciate my classes, regardless of how hard they were. I realized that I’m in school to learn and not to get a 4.0. This perspective took so much pressure off my shoulders. I enjoyed accounting again, which is why I am happily blogging about it.

The Tax Track

So now that I’m firmly determined to do accounting, which accounting path should I pursue? Continue reading My Accounting Story: Not Your Typical Daytime Drama →

Academics, Career, Riny, Student Life

An Insight into the MPA Recruiting Process

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By Riny Varghese
 For this week’s blog, I want to go back two months and share some unique experiences I had during the first few weeks into the MPA program. One of those things was definitely the “Open House” event, during which I had the opportunity to meet with partners and recruiters of three top-tier public accounting firms in New York. How? Well, this was an initiative spearheaded by the Director of the program, Jim Franklin, and the MPA recruiting office to assist students interested in working in cities outside of Austin. They organized “Open Houses” for key cities, both within and out of Texas. We had the freedom to choose the cities and companies that we were most interested in, from the list of participating firms. At this point, I think I may need to clarify this: it was our responsibility to pay for our traveling expenses. The cost of travel for a class of more than 100 would be too formidable for either the school or the companies to undertake at this point. Now I chose New York because my family eventually hopes to settle down there (That’s another plus of being part of this program – you actually have options as far as the cities you want to live in!). I met with two of the Big 4 and one of the top six public accounting firms. The experience was very informative, since I could ask questions specific to my location of preference. The recruiting process, specifically for New York, became clearer to me as well. But the best thing was being able to meet these folks without the pressure of having to interview with them. Because of that, the whole recruiting process became less intimidating.

The second event I really enjoyed was the recruiter panel session during orientation week. During this session, representatives from four sectors (government, consulting, Big 4 public accounting and regional public accounting) talked to us about the recruiting process. Continue reading An Insight into the MPA Recruiting Process →

Academics, Career, Riny, Student Life

New York, Atlanta and Austin in a Week….

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by Riny Varghese
It has been hectic this week. The fall season is really busy with recruiting and school, and learning to maintain a balance between the two is critical to maintaining a level of sanity! For me, there is an additional factor–my 8-month-old son, Karthik. It is pretty challenging to find time to spend with him in the middle of all the other commitments I have. But I love my life! I feel so lucky to have these great opportunities and have a great support system (my family) to help me get through it all.

Okay, so what have I been up to?  Well, Karthik wakes up at 6-ish every day, and so my husband Suresh and I now find that we change our sleeping habits so that they go (kinda) with his. That means going to bed at about 11 PM and waking up at 5 AM-ish.  I usually do school work before I head to class.

Times Square
Times Square

So that was how my Monday morning began. Nothing out of the ordinary. After class was over at 3:30 PM, though, my week took a turn. I flew to New York for an interview on Tuesday. Got back Tuesday night. Woke up 4 AM on Wednesday morning (had some stuff to turn in), had classes till 3:30 PM. Then flew out again (to Atlanta) for another interview. I got back last night, and passed out on the couch.

Boy, I am glad it’s the weekend. I am definitely going to spend the day with my family. And dinner is going to be a great homecooked meal–my husband really deserves it!