Introducing Our Texas MPA Bloggers
First Year Memories
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.
A Little About This Blog & Thoughts About the MPA Program
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.
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
A Few Quiet Moments Before a Long Wednesday
by Jonathann Giammarco
The sound of my alarm hits like a hammer at 6:00 a.m. Sleep is a scarce commodity during the school week, and on Wednesday morning, the wake-up chime coming out of my cell phone can be particularly brutal. I’m up in a few seconds, on unsteady feet and with mind full of cotton, and with great effort, I stumble to the kitchen in search of my alarm. Long ago, I learned that I cannot trust myself to get up in the early morning, so I hide my alarm in the kitchen before I go to sleep. If I can get my hands on my alarm clock before I’m fully awake, I’m liable to shut it off, and sleep through my first class. That would be the absolute worst thing I could do.
People like me, traditional MPA students with non-accounting backgrounds, have a lot of ground to cover in one year. Many of us are spending the fall semester completing the program’s required core classes. Due to a quirk in the academic schedule, the majority of these classes fall back-to-back-to-back on Mondays and Wednesdays. That adds up to an intimidating six-hour block, with lectures running from 8:00 a.m. straight through to 2:00 p.m. The first class of the day, Intermediate Financial Accounting, has a tough reputation, and the lectures are so important that I would be taking a huge academic gamble to miss one.
By the time I am able to track down my phone and shut off my alarm, I am generally lucid enough to get my morning routine under way. One cup of water goes in the microwave and then into my french press for my morning coffee (pumpkin spice!). As the coffee steeps, I prepare a bowl of muesli and milk, tune to Morning Edition on the computer, and putter around my closet in search of clothes. I have to check my scheduler before getting dressed. If there are recruiting events in the afternoon, I’ll wear a button-up shirt and pants. Otherwise, it will be jeans or shorts and a t-shirt.
By 6:45 a.m., I’m usually pressing to get out the door. I have to make sure that all of the notebooks for the day are accounted for and in order. The day’s lunch comes out of the fridge and goes into my overstuffed backpack. On my way out the door, I grab my bicycle helmet and my bike lights. Continue reading A Few Quiet Moments Before a Long Wednesday
Albino Squirrel Search: The Quest for an Assured “A”
by Karen Favorito
Who would have known that one of the most reputable academic institutions in the country has its share of legends, myths and ghost stories? Legend has it that somewhere amidst the trees surrounding the University of Texas at Austin lives an albino squirrel that, if a student sees on his or her way to a test, he or she will get an A on the exam.
Don’t get me wrong, I do my best to study hard and work smart for my exams, but with three rigorous graduate accounting classes under my belt, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to use some luck. This week, I had an exam for ACC 384.1 Tax Research, which I thought was the perfect time to look for the “powerful” squirrel.
This was how my search went:
- Monday – I interviewed people who have seen the albino squirrel already. They told me it can be seen on the East Mall, which is the area where Welch Hall, the Economics Department and Geological Sciences buildings are located. Based on their stories, after seeing the albino squirrel on their way to class, they did not only end up acing the test, but the class as well. This just gave me more motivation to look for the squirrel. I strolled around the East Mall looking for potential spots that the albino squirrel might be hiding. After thirty minutes of surveillance, I gave up on the task. I knew I had to come up with a better strategy to find the squirrel the next day.
- Tuesday – The search continued. This time, I brought my camera with me so I could take a picture of the squirrel. I started looking from the portion of the East Mall closest to Welch then went further East until I hit the Winship Drama Building. I had more patience this time and decided to stick around in the area while reading my Tax Research notes. After 45 minutes of agitation, I decided to call it a day. However, I was still very optimistic that I would eventually find the albino squirrel. Continue reading Albino Squirrel Search: The Quest for an Assured “A”