Category Archives: Career

recruiting, internship, professional development, career workshops and events

Career, Paul, Student Life

Civic Duties of an MPA Student

Leave a comment

by Paul Nabhan

GO VOTE!

 

Election day is right around the corner. With such political turbulence best compared to that which was accumulating during Antebellum, and with more opportunities to vote than before, it is essential to go make your voice heard.

First, though, some quick notes.

Congratulations to the Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers advanced to the World Series for the first time in franchise history on Friday.
The Texas Rangers advanced to the World Series for the first time in franchise history on Friday.

I admit that I do not follow baseball as closely as football or basketball; however, what an amazing achievement it is for this year’s Texas Rangers to reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history! (Against the New York Yankees, no less.) Congratulations, and I look forward to supporting the Rangers starting Wednesday.

Happy Belated Birthday to Coach John Wooden
Coach John Wooden of UCLA passed away during the summer at the age of 99; he would have turned 100 on October 14. Some of his achievements you’ll find in an almanac–such as seven consecutive NCAA championships. Nevertheless, his greatest achievements are probably off the record. Wooden’s character and discipline were of epic proportion; known for his proverbs (“Woodenisms”) and his Pyramid of Success, Coach never swore and would take the time to teach his players to put their socks on correctly on the first day of practice every year.

His example that character and discipline was indeed good enough to win championships–and in unprecedented fashion–serves as a model and is the reason that I revere and respect Wooden so long after he last coached a game.

Still Undecided on a FAS of the Week Segment
Still no decision on this yet, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of hype out there for it anyway.

Anyway, onto the mid-term elections. Continue reading Civic Duties of an MPA Student →

Academics, Career, Riny, Student Life

New York, Atlanta and Austin in a Week….

Leave a comment
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!

Bart, Career

First Year Memories

2 Comments

I’ve now been working at a Big 4 firm longer than the time it took me to obtain my MPA at UT.  I was a tradional MPA student from July of 2008 to August of 2009, and I started as an auditor that same month, which makes about 14 months on the job now.

Some of the most memorable parts of the last year are the after-work or non-audit things I did, such as busy season trivia with my team (topics ranged from Boston sports teams to Jersey Shore, and I admit, I did not excel at the latter), scraping off the windshields of my coworkers’ cars one snowy evening before they came outside, eating out at Benihana’s for my first solo dinner that could be expensed while traveling, eating out at a nice steak house in the Mall of America (another snowy evening, come to think of it), bowling with coworkers across the street from Fenway Park, discussing accounting career paths with an accounting student I met on the plane from Boston to Milwaukee, listening to a variety of excellent books on CD while making my commute to different clients around Boston, getting a guided tour of downtown Santa Fe from the Controller of our audit client, and listening for the first time to my baby’s heart beat over the phone, thousands of miles away, when my wife called from the doctor’s office during her 16-week visit.

My second year began with a transfer back to Texas, which means I won’t have as many snowy/wintry memories next year at this time.  And more significant to us, my wife and I welcomed our first baby (see the photo of the little longhorn, below) into the world in July.  So it’s the three of us, back in Texas, and loving life.  I told my wife the other day that it’s a good feeling to know that the grass just doesn’t look greener on the other side.

Academics, Admissions, Career, Paul

A Little About This Blog & Thoughts About the MPA Program

3 Comments

by Paul Nabhan

Who am I?
My name is Paul, and I’m a 4th-year student in the MPA program, studying on the Audit track. I come from El Paso, which is 600 miles and a time zone away from Austin. Aside from accounting, I am also a finance minor, a violin student, and an ardent college football and basketball fan; other quirks include zealously watching the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee every year, trying to watch all of the AFI Top 100 Movies (I think I’m at 38 now…), and trying new foods.

El Paso sunset
El Paso sunset

What will this blog be like?
This blog will contain short headers with short answers most of the time. Those who actually know me are probably thrilled at this because my real life personality would have me talking for an hour or so.

So you promise not ramble on forever and ever?
No, not unless there is a topic about which I feel strongly.

What will you be talking about?
Since this is an MPA blog, I will be commenting on some of my experiences here in the program (why I’m glad I joined, what regrets I may have), student life on campus and in Austin, and possibly some of the processes involved with admissions, internships, etc.

Who is this blog for then?
This blog will be targeted mostly at current MPA students, prospective MPA students, and anyone else who has a general interest in the feel of the program. I’ll try to mix it up a bit, of course, but this isn’t really intended to be the forum to talk about whether LeBron made the right decision or not (although, I might sneak in a comment every now and then). Continue reading A Little About This Blog & Thoughts About the MPA Program →

Academics, Career, Natalie

My Busy & Exciting MPA Internship: An Overview

4 Comments

It’s been about a month now since I completed my MPA internship in Dallas, and I’ve got to say, I still haven’t gotten used to the fact that I have to be a student again. I really enjoyed being able to go home and not have any homework to worry about. I even had time to watch American Idol for the first time ever (I’m a little behind on the craze). Getting paid to work hard rather than paying to work hard was nice, too.

However, waking up at 6:30 a.m. Monday through Friday is something I could do without, and one thing I’ve thoroughly enjoyed since I’ve been back at school is not setting my alarm. Having class two days per week from noon to 6 p.m. certainly has its perks. Five days off and two days of work…completely opposite from my work schedule.

I’m really grateful for the unique internship opportunity that the MPA program incorporates into our degree. To be able to spend three months doing an internship that reflects exactly what we’ll be doing in our full-time job is a fantastic chance to see what’s ahead, but still be able to come back and learn about our profession from a different perspective. To sit through an Introduction to Auditing class when you’ve never seen a real audit is kind of like reading assembly instructions without any visuals. You understand what you’re reading, but it’s tough to see the big picture since you have no idea what the final product is supposed to look like. Now, having worked on a few audits during my internship, I have a completely different perception of an audit for my Studies in Auditing capstone class. So far, the class has been much more rewarding and interactive than my Intro to Audit class. It has nothing to do with the quality of my professors for the two classes (both are excellent); rather, I think it is because I have seen what an audit actually looks like so I am able to better appreciate what I am learning. Continue reading My Busy & Exciting MPA Internship: An Overview →