As I near the end of my tMPA career, I have been reflecting on three unexpected opportunities that the tMPA curriculum has brought my way.

1. Writing – Often when people think of accountants, they think of number crunchers. However, accountants of all types encounter plenty of writing in their professional careers in email form, report form, and everything in between. As such, the MPA curriculum incorporates quite a few writing assignments to get MPAs ready for the real world. My Ethics course (BGS 381L) this summer session has ten journal assignments and my Fraud (ACC 383K.4) course last summer session had three written cases. So to the incoming and prospective students out there, sharpen up those Word skills and get ready to hone your prose–you’ll need more than Excel to get through the MPA. Luckily Microsoft Office is sold at the UT Campus Computer Store in the Flawn Academic Center (FAC) for a steep educational discount.

2. Guest Speakers – I had no idea just how many opportunities I would have to interact with a wide range of guest speakers in the classroom such as Mack Brown, a former FBI agent, and of course several public accounting and industry professionals. The MPA Distinguished Speakers Lyceum provides the most obvious opportunity to encounter speakers, however, most of my classes also had speaker presentations. These presentations are a great opportunity to mix up the day, gain insight, and network.

3. Group Projects and Presentations – In our careers, we will likely work on countless teams. Numerous group projects are woven into the MPA curriculum that allow MPAs to work on both our team and presentation skills. School is a great opportunity to work on these skills before heading off to full-time employment.

In sum, not only has the tMPA curriculum developed my “hard” accounting skills, but it prepared me holistically for the workplace through writing assignments, guest speaker interactions, and group projects and presentations.