El Cerro de la Silla!

I feel like I haven’t written in a long time, and I am truly sorry for that, but these past few weeks have been pretty intense. I went to an office visit with a company I loved, had a second round of midterms, and even got to go back to Monterrey for a weekend.

Anyway, today I am really excited because I can finally say that my recruiting process is over. I accepted an offer to work for an accounting firm in Houston, starting in January 2011 (right after my graduation in Mexico).

It is not that I didn’t like the recruiting process; I liked being able to network with a lot people and I think a learned A LOT. Pretty much everything was new for me, but I am sincerely grateful for all the support I received from the people in Career Services. They all helped me review my resume a thousand times, answered all my doubts, and even helped me improve my interviewing skills with a mock interview.

What I am really excited about is the opportunity to work at a great company with great people. Throughout the recruiting process everybody says that finding a job is all about finding “the perfect fit,” but to be truly honest, I don’t think I really believed that. Right now, I can only say that they really mean it and now I understand why that is true. During one interview with one manager, she suggested that I look at the people in the company and the other interviewees and imagine if I saw myself working with them. Well, now I feel I found the place I fit in and the people I want to work with.

It all started with the pre-interview dinner, when one partner approached me by name. I know that I had my name tag, but I really appreciated that he had already seen my resume, he remembered me, and he was interested enough to remember my name and ask about my background. Besides, during the dinner I met a lot of people from the staff and I enjoyed talking to each of them. The next day I talked with two partners during the interviews and I ended up even more interested in the firm. After that, going to the office visit just made me want to work there even more.

Now you can imagine how excited I was when I received the offer, and even now, when I officially accepted it. I just can’t wait to be there.

It is hard to imagine that the second run of fall exams have already come to a close. After spending many days hiding from my furry roommate during the last two exam seasons, I have visited quite a few libraries on campus (and there ARE quite a few on campus!). I know that some people prefer to study at coffee shops or in their rooms. I prefer libraries mostly because I have problems concentrating for a long period of time (yes, the secret is out), and I need to be around people who are hard at work to force myself to stay on task. Plus, I can do without another excuse to drink more caffeine. Anyway, for the people who might have the same preference as I for the same or different reasons, allow me to share my thoughts on each library that I have visited below.

1. Perry Castaneda Library (PCL)

I like the PCL mainly for its convenience, because the West Campus shuttle picks up right in front of the PCL until as late as 10:23 p.m. on weekdays, which saves some walking for me when I am already tired from studying. Also, I have checked out a locker in the library that allows me to leave my textbooks and binders there. The PCL also has very long hours that could accommodate anyone’s schedule, though I have not stayed past midnight at the PCL. Finally, PCL’s policies on food and drink in the library are lax, so it is a good place for continuous studying. However, the PCL is sometimes too cold, especially on the higher floors. It is also in serious shortage of electrical outlets during exam seasons when everyone is vying for a table close to an outlet, which is not the most helpful when I need to be on my laptop. Furthermore, some of my friends have complained that they cannot stop sneezing when they are in the PCL if they are studying among the stacks. I guess being allergic to books definitely makes studying in a library like PCL somewhat more painful.

2. Architecture Library Reading Room

The architecture building is right across from the Texas Union, and the library has a side facing the lawn in front of the Main Building. The library itself is very beautiful with dark furnishing and plenty of natural lighting. Windows are important to me because I just need to have a piece of the gorgeous late autumn weather while I am studying. It also provides large desk spaces for people who like to spread their things out like me. However, one downside to this library is similar to that of the PCL, which is an outlet shortage. Another is that its hours are more limited, especially in the evenings and on the weekends. But, overall, the architecture library reading room is one of my favorite spots on campus.

3. Law Library

To be honest, I was only in the law library once to study, though it was a ten-hour stay. The law library opens earlier than most other libraries on campus on Sundays, so I trekked over there one Sunday before the first exam season. When I said I “trekked,” I really did. The law library is located past San Jacinto Blvd. on Dean Keeton St., which is unfortunately a good twenty-plus-minute walk from my apartment. It is also far from any food places that I am familiar with. The library itself has many tables and natural lighting. It was also a treasure trove of legal documents and periodicals, which are interesting to look at during study breaks. The thing I enjoyed the most about the law library is that it is definitely in no shortage of hardworking students. Once I saw the law students with the stacks of books by their laptops, I felt comforted by the amount of studying that still awaited me. However, evidently, the inconvenience of the library’s location from my usual whereabouts has kept me from visiting it again.

4. Engineering Buildings

The engineering library is also another option that is easily accessible to me, since it is on the West Campus shuttle route and not too far from McCombs. The library itself is smaller than some of the other libraries on campus, but it has plenty of large tables for students to work on. However, I spent my first finals reading period in Engineering Teaching Center II (ETC) on San Jacinto Blvd. and Dean Keeton St. There is a long row of cubicles along the eastern side of the building with windows that is an ideal studying location for me. Each cubicle has more than one electrical outlet and plenty of workspace. The temperature is comfortable in the building, and it has just the right amount of white noise and diligent students to keep me on track. I think I will reconsider this location for the upcoming finals this semester.

I hope the list gives some new options to other diligent MPA students who are getting ready for finals!

Note: All the pictures of buildings in this post are taken from utexas.edu.

The Oasis

The majority of my blogs have been focused on either academic or career issues that I have encountered here at UT and have provided very little insight into the life I am able to live outside of the classroom. There is a rising joke among college students that college life is very simple and all decisions fall into one of three categories: Sleep, Studying, Social Life. The 3 S’s! But after reading into the “fine print” of the system, you discover the punch line…you can only pick two of the categories. I chose to sacrifice sleep knowing full well there is nothing a Monster Energy drink can’t fix.

 As such, when I finally get a break from school, I am able to enjoy the following ten things while I spend my time in here in A-TX!

10. Favorite Place to Run: Town Lake (now known as Ladybird Lake). It can be crowded on the weekends, but the terrain is way better than weaving through traffic in the city.

9. Favorite Pizza Place: Mellow Mushroom. It takes 20-30 minutes to get your food because they make it all by hand, but the unique flavors make it all worth it.

8. Favorite Movie Venue: Alamo Draft House. At either the Ritz venue on 6th Street or the South Lamar location, the idea of combining food and a movie, uber convenient!

7. Favorite Sporting Event: Ultimate Frisbee. Joining in and playing Ultimate Frisbee pickup games at the IM fields, outside the San Jacinto dormitory, or inside the Quad residence hall is more fun than any football/basketball/soccer game I have been to as a fan.

6. Favorite TV Show: The Office. There is just something appealing about a comedy show that makes fun of the corporate lifestyle I am about to enter.

5. Favorite Happy Hour: Split between Sago and Trudy’s. I am a margarita fanatic and the margaritas at Sago are the best in Austin, but Trudy’s has a better atmosphere.

4. Favorite view in Austin: The patio at The Oasis. I have always wanted to live on a lake and I like watching the sunset on a warm summer day.

3. Favorite Radio Station: 100.7 KASE. I am becoming a huge country fan with a liking for Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood’s music.

2. Favorite “pass-time”: GoogleMonstering. My girlfriend gave me the title so it functions as both a noun and a verb, and I am pretty sure I should go get it trademarked, but apparently my thirst for learning anything and everything will often cause me to run out of the room just to get to a computer and Google something and try to obtain answers.

1. Favorite day of the week: Thursday. Class gets out and I actually get a chance to do most of these things!

Welcome to my life!

This past weekend, I attended my fourth Texas-OU game as a UT student. Being a fourth year student certainly has its perks–for one, a fantastic 25-yard line seat on the 10th row of the upper deck. (FYI- graduate students receive second priority for season tickets to football games.) Texas home games are tons of fun, but there is nothing like the annual Red River Shootout. Take the fun of a regular game and multiply it by five. Everything that happens in the game elicits an emotion. You’re either jumping up and down hugging strangers or you’re disgusted by 50,000 cheering Sooners as if they offended you, personally.

Sitting with my boyfriend and friends, waiting for the game to start.

Then there is the whole State Fair aspect to this game. Think of it as a giant tailgate with all the delicious fried food you could ever dream of (and a lot you probably couldn’t dream of–think fried butter, fried snickers, and chicken fried bacon). My state fair menu consisted of: a corn dog for breakfast, funnel cake for mid-morning snack, chicken strips for halftime snack, shredded chicken stuffed jalapenos after the game. Yummy.

Deep-fried butter. A heart attack waiting to happen, huh?

It cost me a bright red sunburn and probably 6,000 calories, but by 3 p.m. the Longhorns pulled off a victory over those Oklahoma Sooners. 16-13! Rose Bowl here we come…

Texas football and its traditions like this rivalry game in Dallas are definitely a perk of being a UT student, and if you haven’t attended a Texas-OU game yet, you should at some point…preferably as a student, so you can buy a ticket for $95 face value rather than $250 on eBay.

P.S. Even on a weekend that I designated as an “absolutely no thoughts about school” weekend, I found myself thinking about accounting. As my boyfriend and I stood in a 20-minute line for tickets so that we could buy food/ride rides/etc., we wondered why this whole ticket thing was necessary. Why couldn’t we just pay cash to the vendors? But then I quickly remembered audit class and the need for controls. As a result, my poor boyfriend got a lengthy accountant’s explanation as to why the tickets were, in fact, needed.

However, seeing the professor in class or during office hours might not be enough to develop a positive, constructive relationship between students and professors. As part of the MPA Faculty Lunch Series, students are invited to have lunch with their professors so that they can meet in a more relaxed atmosphere. Last Tuesday I was able to attend a lunch with Professor Mark Bradshaw, from my Introduction to Assurance class.

I think it was a very valuable experience, since it gave me the opportunity to meet my professor outside the typical class environment and with only 10 more people in the room. This allowed for a more personal conversation, where we could talk about almost everything we wanted (from the professor’s professional experience to his life outside the university to the things we like/dislike about his class).
 
Sometimes it is easy to see professors just as proficient professionals highly commited to teaching you about a certain subject. However, I think my experience in the MPA has been far more valuable after learning to see beyond the professionals standing in front of the classroom, to see them as the persons they are, with many experiences that had lead them down this road. It is even inspirational to see how someone who started probably just as you are right now, has succeeded and accomplished many things.

I would highly recommend attending one of these lunches if you are presented with the opportunity of doing so. I will certainly do it again if I can.

Above: Fufu, as he tried to yank my camera’s wrist strap - you can see the sparkle in his eyes.

My life has been in topsy-turvy for the past few months. The main reason is that I now have a furry and unruly roommate in the little studio apartment where I live. I adopted a kitten from the Austin Humane Society in July, and he has been with me for almost three months now. His name is Fufu, taken from the Chinese word fu, which means “good fortune.” As an American shorthair, Fufu is basically the run-of-the-mill stray cat that you would see digging through the neighborhood dumpster. But, to me, he is uniquely mine, and, aside from his occasionally disruptive ways, he is the best roommate I can ask for.

My family has had quite a few pets as I was growing up. My older sister, who lives in Houston, has two dogs and a cat. Although I am very used to the idea of living with animals, I have never had a pet of my own that I needed to take care of one hundred percent. Fufu is the first one, and he definitely proves me wrong when I thought that cats were easier to rear.

I took a few trips to the Austin Humane Society before I decided on adopting Fufu. All the animals in the shelter looked like they needed a home so desperately, but I could only take one home. I played with Fufu and another kitten from the same litter in the playroom and thought that Fufu’s docile and quiet way of interaction was perfect for my lifestyle. However, apparently Fufu is a master of disguise! After he recovered from a bad cold when I first took him home from the shelter, he became very playful and active. He is also very persistent at getting attention, especially when I am working. He likes to help me type when I am on the computer and flips pages for me when I am reading. Aside from his very helpful nature, he is also an early riser and a night owl. On days when I am glad that I can sleep in, he makes sure that I do not get lazy by nuzzling up to my face or nibbling on my toes around seven until I wake up and give him his breakfast. On the other hand, every day when I open the door to what used to be an empty apartment, I have a friend peeping out waiting for my return. While it is true that Fufu’s abundant energy sometimes makes a mess in my small apartment, his companionship makes quiet evenings more interesting.

My friends all laugh and say that my life has been taken over by a feline roommate. Indeed, my life has not been the same since Fufu entered it. Three months into our roommate-ship, we are still getting used to each other. But, I have a good feeling that we will get along just fine for many years to come.

Lastly, I just want to remind anyone who is thinking of adding an animal to his or her household the option of adoption. Austin Humane Society and many other animal shelters around Austin are excellent places to start, and the animals would love to be visited!

Professor Jim Deitrick

I still contend that Intermediate Accounting for MPAs (Not ACC 329) is the hardest class in the business school, but Advanced Accounting is no “walk in the park.”  This past week was the first exam, or as Professor Deitrick likes to call it, “the first scrimmage.”  Professor Deitrick is a phenomenal accounting teacher considering he was a math major and he uses a repetition based technique that drives his core points into memory rather effectively. He did a great job preparing us, especially with the use of a course packet with detailed examples and practice problems.

My technique was a little different than Natalie’s (see previous post) but my circumstances were different. Coming off an ITAC exam, TX/OU ticket draw, and continuous homework in all of my classes, it was difficult to start preparing a week in advance.  I had kept up on all of my reading (each chapter twice), all the practice problems, and I never missed a class so I was able to minimize the need for playing catch-up.

The three days before the exam I really began to study hard-core for it, with problem after problem of practice.  Is it weird to say that I find business combination accounting to be REALLY COOL?!?!?!

Getting into the exam at 7 p.m., I felt pretty good about my understanding of the material.  As the test progressed, I wasn’t finding myself stuck on any part too long, but I did find one problem; I was running out of time! The test was to be over at 9 p.m., it was 8:32 and I still had three problems remaining.  (Clarification: Each problem is one or two pages long.)  I quickened my pace and was able to finish the exam as he called time and didn’t leave anything blank.  Now, I have no doubt I missed a few points because I was in such a hurry, but I felt pretty good about it overall.

I have this feeling of frustration though; that I know the material and can prove it, I just didn’t have adequate time to put my knowledge on paper.  Many professors will argue that it is just life and you will have tight deadlines in the real world but if we are going to compare an exam to real world, I am pretty sure a boss would prefer that a project be done right the first time, instead of rushed and botched.  I understand both sides of the argument but based on the actual reasons for testing (to see what we truly have learned), the argument for being rushed is a little weak in my opinion.  I have no doubt all student have felt frustrated like this from time to time, so I will accept it as such and move on.

Overall, the test difficulty did not merit the amount of worry I had beforehand.  Professor Deitrick asked fair questions and gave us superior classroom preparation, leaving little room for me to be too upset.  Wish me luck, grades back on Wednesday!  :-)

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.

So it was good to hear from Keri, and I assured her that I’d be checking in every so often to blog about my post-MPA life as a new associate auditor at one of the ‘Big 4′ accounting firms in downtown Boston.

Life as an Auditor

I’ve been really happy with life as an auditor so far (the photo above is taken from a conference room I was working in last week). My coworkers are all smart, interesting people, and there’s no end to the learning resources that my firm provides. After a good amount of training, we’ve all been deployed on various engagement teams working in and outside of Boston.

My first auditing experience was actually in Wisconsin, and coincidentally, Janssen’s dad is originally from Beloit, Wisconsin. So instead of flying me home for the weekend, the firm paid to fly Janssen out to visit. What a great policy that is! It saved the firm money (J’s flight out and back was less than mine would have been), and allowed us to have a vacation sort of weekend (there’s a link there because Janssen posted a bunch of photos from the trip on her blog a couple of weeks ago).

The client was great to work with, my team was awesome, and besides the fact that I ate less healthily than usual–going out to dinner every night–it was an ideal beginning to my auditing career. Each of my team members, including myself, even brought home some genuine Wisconsin cheese to our respective significant others and family members.

Two other things I should mention before letting you go:

1) I recently learned that my summer CPA studying paid off when I received my passing score for the fourth and final section of the CPA exam! What a relief that is! Now I just need to rack up 1000 auditing hours to become a licensed CPA in the state of Massachusetts.

BTW, I highly recommend taking the CPA exam before you start working full time if you can. Why? You won’t want to study after a full day’s work. It’s unbelievably nice to have it out of the way up front so I can focus on what is already a steep learning curve becoming an auditor.

and

2) Another unbelievably nice thing? Making money again. Also highly recommended.