Ahh!

“College is supposed to be the best time of your life.” Well currently, I am ready to scream as I frantically throw every single paper, assignment, reading, book, and test around the room. There’s no secret college can be stressful, and I feel as if I’m not “spilling” any new information to you, but sometimes it can be therapeutic. It’s always a good time when teachers assign heavily weighted projects and tasks all around the same relative time period. (I am being completely sarcastic). You have to take a deep breath, relax, and realize you’re not the only one in this situation. Some have it worse, and some ease on by. I am not satisfied with doing minimum work to “get by”. It’s college; I am PAYING to go through all of this. I WANTED to be here. Often, I blame everything on external items as if I can’t control anything. Oh, but you can. Time management is crucial in times like this. It’s easy to pass up assignments and save them for later dates; but honestly, I just can’t get away with that anymore. I need to face every situation head on, and just complete all my tasks. I have two tests, two presentations, and a few homework assignments thrown in, all in the same three to four days. I can sit here and think of how stressful it will be and complete RESENT those teachers. But it’s their job. They cannot accommodate to every student’s schedule. I’m lucky if they even take it into consideration. Instead of thinking of how I’m NOT going to make it through, I need to start implementing a plan to take it head on. I feel as if I’m writing this blog to calm myself down, but also I swear I have a strong intent in helping others get through these circumstances. It’s hard to want to succeed and STAND OUT for what you’ve done, but it’s too easy to fall back in with the rest during these times. It’s just not possible and I feel as if that goal will aid in getting through this. The semester cannot end soon enough, but at the same time, I don’t want to see this year fly by me. It’s a love/hate relationship.

xTax

If I haven’t made it clear already, it’s important to get your name out there, network, and make use of the tuition you pay towards your education. My freshman year was filled with other unnecessary components, and this year I am taking advantage of the opportunities St. John Fisher provides, specifically for the Accounting major. Approximately 80 schools around the nation have the opportunity for a tax or an audit challenge hosted at their school. It is split in half, meaning only about 40 relate their topic to tax. Of all the schools in this country, St. John Fisher is one that hosts this type of challenge. With those starting stats, why not be involved in the program, on top of the beneficial experience? Being a sophomore, we lack the appropriate courses designated for tax, but we are grouped in a logical manor to overcome this. The staff makes sure we have appropriate knowledgeable students and requires we have a professor to mentor and guide our direction. I’m pretty nervous about my contributions, but it will be a learning experience and maybe next year, I can be the group member everyone goes to. We have to start somewhere, and it’s not at the top.
I attended the introductory presentation given by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a tax and auditing firm who runs the program. We listened to members who have participated in the event, and even those who now work for the company. It’s a two week process, kicking off on October 31st and runs for two weeks. We gather information and ideas and solve a business-like situation. There is no right or wrong answer to this type of challenge; it’s based on how you develop your solution and come up with the best ideas. We have to present on November 14th in front of REAL employees and people in the business! After hearing this detail, I almost talked myself out of it. I can get real nervous in these types of situations, but I feel I would regret not taking this opportunity.
As I previously mentioned, my boss attended school here and participated in this challenge. I might have some extra help in the game and why not take advantage of all my resources? He was older when he did this challenge but highly recommended I follow through because the benefits are unforgettable. We learn how to communicate effectively in a group setting, plan and organize, present, and maybe even receive a job offer or conversation in the future. After he presented, one of the judges approached him afterwards for further contact information.
I have a lot ahead of me, including the outside hours invested. It isn’t for an actual grade or class, but the benefits will far exceed a letter grade from a professor.

NetWORK

I would like to take the opportunity to address my current job and the multiple implications I take away from it. Over the summer my uncle had created a job position titled “Junior Financial Analyst” that I took over for the company Coopervision. I started working full-time in an office setting for the first time in my life. It was different, new, exciting, and I couldn’t wait to hit the ground running. Just like every other new job, it starts off a little slow as I was anxious to get into the field. I actually work for the Financial Planning and Analysis segment in the office. This looks great as I am planning on entering the Accounting field. My boss is actually a Fisher-grad and couldn’t say enough about the program. He entered into the public accounting field and is eager to gear me in the right direction. Because he was successful here at this school, and is now a manager in the Finance department, it gives me a real situation to look up to. A job description that was in my reach has actually come to life, as he has plenty of feedback and direction to give me. I feel ahead of the game as I am furthering my education here at school. In addition to my studies, I’m learning at work every day. (Well the two days I’m there). I decided to continue the job throughout the semester because of the great opportunity and experience. I am promised a job until I graduate, and I can’t pass that up. I’m not directly in the accounting program, but can see the Finance department from another view. It’s different from reading a book. We are given examples with even and exact numbers in the text, and I can see actual spreadsheets with common terms and phrases that exist in the real world. I feel as if college doesn’t prepare you as well as it could for the REAL environment we are put it. Often I hear my accounting teacher say, we are going to dive into this problem as it applies to the actual field and situation you might find yourself in. I’m taking advantage of networking and maybe it will pay off someday. I have met plenty of people and you never know who I could come across in the future that will tie into my career. Take advantage of every situation possible. I have to manage my time and work around my schedule, but fitting work in was the best decision I made in my college-career thus far.

Youtube Debate

In relation to my concern with politics and also tying in my private school concerns here at St. John Fisher College, I researched this youtube video. It has some age to it, considering this is a debate in the past, but I believe it fits perfectly with the previous posts of my blog. Some of the candidates, Hilary Clinton for example, had to "excuse" why her daughter attended a private school and said it was for press and safety reasons. Presidential candidate Obama also seemed to be defending his choice for his daughters, explaining why they attended one. Biden actually mentioned their faith was important, but excused it from death of this family members. However, when mentioning their children attended a public school, it was simply accepted. Why is this so? They also mention "working the system". I'm not sure what this means. I strongly believe our public schools need to be improved, but during this debate, why are they sending this message??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP0xi0vKxNE&feature=related

Rock the Vote Cont'd

After reading my involvement in Rock the Vote, listen to the following podcast on my thoughts and feelings on the election. Also viewpoints from each of the candidates. 

Download this episode (right click and save)

84 Percent!

After nervously awaiting my test scores, I finally was presented with my exam grade. Of course the number was not out of 100 so the 67.5 completely SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME. I gave a great sigh and said maybe next time, and the previous blog was a useless life lesson. BUT, it was out of 80 points. I received an 84 percent. In my eyes, it’s not good, but at the same time, it’s not terrible. However, after hearing the class average was a 70, I was 24 points above that. I feel it’s a good point to base your grade off of. An 84 with a class average of a 90 is not so good, but I feel so relieved and proud of myself after hearing that statistic. I assumed the worst and it mentally prepared me for the results. Sometimes it’s worth it to put the time and effort into something. The events of last weekend are already being overshadowed by events last night. The temporary feeling goes away after you have a sense of accomplishment.
Sometimes I even doubted the major because I thought it was all riding on this one test. (I tend to exaggerate beyond belief) so maybe I was a little too stressed over it and I let it consume me. I still have many doors open in the field and I feel I have a set future. Not because of this “one exam” but it adds to the positive feeling about that I have about my future. St. John Fisher is well known for its accounting majors and I eventually want to leave my mark here in the program. I remember sitting in a department meeting last year as a freshman and listening to the students they recommended talking about their experiences. I eventually would like to be that role model and give back to students who proceed after me. I will have invested enough money into my tuition, why not make the best of it.

Yellow

To start out with a weird analogy that also ties into my title; if every student here at fisher was red, I am striving to be that yellow fish. In a good way, something that’s beneficial, and not for negative connotations. I just took a life/death test for my major. If I don’t pass, odds are I’m not sure I can pursue any farther. It’s imperative to have a good GPA, especially the one that only counts towards your declared subject of interest. I did not take this lightly, and made studying my number one priority. I set an average goal to reach, and hopefully I met it.
St. John Fisher just had its first “official day off”, because I’ve taken a couple personal ones myself. For the long weekend, I went home along with a majority of campus. Your first instinct is to throw everything in a pile and return to it Sunday night. This case was different. I had to think of what was important and make school a priority; I studied for my exam. To make this a broader case, it’s easy to get caught up in the social aspect of school. Not wanting to miss out on anything. Always trying to meet with friends and make everyone happy. But what’s the main reason you come to college? To have a bright future and know you earned it. They say education and your house are the two major investments you will encounter. It’s hard to sit back and watch all the money you’re paying turn to waste over that one night.

You can always go out with friends and have a good time.
You can’t always study for that test that will eventually be over.

Is It Worth It?

I think I need to start out by asking, WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE ECONOMY? I’ve been on information overload with the concern of where the world is going these days. It’s scary the amount of threats toward a depression are out there. What does this mean for us? What does it mean for us who are educated? I often wonder if it’s worth the time and money for the job market not to even have room for me. Is there a place waiting to hire me? Will I struggle until then? I’m not as intelligent as others when it comes to the stock market, but when I hear it drops over 800 points, I know something is wrong. Something is not right with the United States or the rest of the world. Our government is trying to bail us out of this mess and I am extremely concerned where this leaves me. I know mortgages are an on-going problem these days, but personal loans directly affect me. Because I attend a private school, the bill at the end of the year is significantly higher than other SUNY schools. It’s no surprise; I knew this coming in and am fully aware of what I financially set myself up for. I always figured the government could help me out; you get a successful job, and eventually pay them back. No big deal. But the interest rate on my previous loan for the year totals to over 11%. This is insane and to this day I put it off and say I will deal with it later in life. I’m not so sure if this is an option anymore. There are rumors going around that the amount of money the government will lend out is less than it ever was. Does this mean I can’t pay for college? Does more have to come out of my pocket? Maybe I’m worrying too much, but sometimes I wonder if coming to St. John Fisher is worth it. Many say you pay for the diploma with its name on it, and I feel it’s somewhat a true fact. My current boss is a Fisher graduate and says employers in the accounting field grab resumes out of others hands to get a hold of them. This makes me feel a little better about the success of a job afterwards, but I can’t settle on the amount of money I will later owe in my life. I have friends who highly recommend going to a state school, because in the end it’s all about either graduate school or other aspects. I’m still sticking with Fisher; it has a good reputation, beautiful campus, and a chance to stand out and receive an education. I hope to someday reap the benefits without finding myself in debt.

Read further into Bush’s promises on how we are going to come through.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/07/news/economy/bush_meltdown.ap/index.htm

Read further into the full-time undergraduate costs at St. John Fisher.
http://home.sjfc.edu/financialaid/undergrad/cost.asp

Rock the Vote

In continuing trying to better my involvement on campus, I decided to attend an event put on by SAB during homecoming weekend. In order to avoid ordinary, involving yourself for future positions is important. You have to start somewhere, so why not now? Every Fisher student has their enrollment in common; however it’s what you do outside of this that makes you stand out above the rest. Simply attending events will not transform your identity, but I’m looking for a program to pursue a position on the staff. This event certainly sparked my interest as a couple cast members from MTV’s Real World showed up! They lead the talk on “Rock the Vote” to ensure college students take the responsibility to pursue their vote. They even said if 100% of citizens ranging from the age of 18-24 voted, we would decide the whole election! That’s powerful stats and makes me view this November differently. Sitting in the audience gave me insight on a couple different topics the election is based on, and I feel I can actually make a difference. They probably target college students because we’re after an education and don’t realize the power we actually obtain. It’s a right we sometimes forget to exercise. For me personally, I’m quite clueless when it comes to current events, and feel like attending the session has made me aware. Living on campus also helps in other ways. The Resident Assistant on our floor has posted up an arrangement outside of her door. She has some pictures and main points on each side of the political campaign runners. These are some of the little perks of living on campus. It seems so minuscule and not an influential reason to stay at school, but it all adds up.

http://www.rockthevote.com/