I ran this route today. Follow the blue line. I'm gonna go sleep now for about 36 hours.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Getting to Know Me, Getting to Know All About Me
What has two thumbs and is insane enough to take a class on Labor Day weekend? This guy!
This class, however, had nothing to do with theory or learning content about your traditional subjects. If it were as such, I likely would have turned down the opportunity. Heading into my senior year I don't much worry about the accounting topics I haven't learned. Working this summer made me realize that the hands-on stuff is so much more important anyway. The most essential thing I want to glean out of the next few months is how to transition out of being coddled in academia into being open to the uncertainty that comes with real adulthood. Luckily this course fell squarely into that niche.
"Self Leadership and Life After Fordham" guided me on a journey from startling confusion to utter frustration, and finally to optimistic uncertainty. The professor challenged us to identify our strengths. This had nothing to do with using our talents to make us financially satisfied, but everything to do with matching those strengths to discover our "sweet spot" which will allow us to live the good life. This good life, according to the author Seligman, means happiness and success.
After completing a 240-question self-assessment, I discovered my top strengths were identified as gratitude, kindness/generosity, spirituality, zest and enthusiasm, and the capacity to love and be loved. Enter the aforementioned startling confusion and utter frustration. Am I a future accountant or an aspiring priest? I can't say I disagree with this strength assessment. These are all major pieces of who I am. But they always struck me as my general personality, not something that would necessarily form my career. Yet through further work in something called Hogan Personality Inventory, I discovered that my primary motivators were recognition, affiliation, and altruism. Money ranked fifth out of ten. I'm not sure I know a lot of accountants like that.
Upon revealing my strengths and motivators to the class, my professor told me these were all marks of a teacher. Funny thing is, I occasionally imagined myself working in the field during my twenties and thirties and then transferring careers once my family started to grow (read: get needy). I would love to teach either accounting or finance as I always find myself thinking of how I'd explain certain concepts to a group of college kids.
None of this has changed my decision to start in public accounting and then see what's out there after I become a CPA. What comes after is up to what I think at that point.
This class, however, had nothing to do with theory or learning content about your traditional subjects. If it were as such, I likely would have turned down the opportunity. Heading into my senior year I don't much worry about the accounting topics I haven't learned. Working this summer made me realize that the hands-on stuff is so much more important anyway. The most essential thing I want to glean out of the next few months is how to transition out of being coddled in academia into being open to the uncertainty that comes with real adulthood. Luckily this course fell squarely into that niche.
"Self Leadership and Life After Fordham" guided me on a journey from startling confusion to utter frustration, and finally to optimistic uncertainty. The professor challenged us to identify our strengths. This had nothing to do with using our talents to make us financially satisfied, but everything to do with matching those strengths to discover our "sweet spot" which will allow us to live the good life. This good life, according to the author Seligman, means happiness and success.
After completing a 240-question self-assessment, I discovered my top strengths were identified as gratitude, kindness/generosity, spirituality, zest and enthusiasm, and the capacity to love and be loved. Enter the aforementioned startling confusion and utter frustration. Am I a future accountant or an aspiring priest? I can't say I disagree with this strength assessment. These are all major pieces of who I am. But they always struck me as my general personality, not something that would necessarily form my career. Yet through further work in something called Hogan Personality Inventory, I discovered that my primary motivators were recognition, affiliation, and altruism. Money ranked fifth out of ten. I'm not sure I know a lot of accountants like that.
Upon revealing my strengths and motivators to the class, my professor told me these were all marks of a teacher. Funny thing is, I occasionally imagined myself working in the field during my twenties and thirties and then transferring careers once my family started to grow (read: get needy). I would love to teach either accounting or finance as I always find myself thinking of how I'd explain certain concepts to a group of college kids.
None of this has changed my decision to start in public accounting and then see what's out there after I become a CPA. What comes after is up to what I think at that point.
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