People have this stereotype of Accountants, they are serious, like being confined to their offices and cubicles, are Math geniuses and wear pens with protectors in their shirt pockets. With that being said, when people meet me and get to know my personality I always get this comment:
"Your personality is really not that of an Accountant."
For the record, I take this as a huge compliment!
Let's back up 12 or so years... You know when those kids come around and sell large Hershey's candy bars from those boxes to fundraise for Schools, Sports teams, Etc.? Well in sixth grade we had a candy bar fundraiser and I was in charge of maintaining all inventory of candy bar boxes and counting and preparing the Cash deposits. I would also hit up the other kids asking for their profits and distributed and ordered more boxes of chocolate as necessary. And you know what? I freaking loved it. That's probably when I subconsciously knew I would one day be an Accountant.
In high school I was always good at Algebra, I loved it. During my senior year I had the option to take Accounting to account for Math credits I was missing (because I sucked at Geometry). I jumped at the opportunity and I aced the class and in the process discovered Accounting, at least in it's simplest form is a beautiful beautiful thing. It is used EVERYDAY around the world! After High School I didn't want to go directly to a 4 year University because I wanted to be a grown up and make them dolla bills, I didn't want to be hassled with making an immediate decision about what to do with my life or the pressure of enrolling into a University and having to choose a major. I just wasn't ready for it, so I worked and took a few Junior College classes sporadically here and there. During these "defining" years, I learned how to be an Adult, albeit by making mistakes.
By the time I was 20 I decided I didn't want to work at Taco Bell the rest of my life, I wanted a career! I wanted an 8-5, to wear outfits not uniforms to work and well I wanted to make more money and be able to sustain myself in the real world. I also wanted to do this as soon as possible, I didn't want to be a broke college student for 4 years before I actually got a job that made decent money. So, I started looking at a private trade school in my hometown and as soon as I saw it "Accounting Associate's Degree" a huge huge light bulb went on and I thought "this is it, this is what I want." Disclosure: Trade Schools are not for everybody, I understand that a lot of people end up with a chunk of debt and a career in a market that is super competitive but I had faith that Accounting skills would help me obtain a career fairly quickly and I was willing to make that investment. My trade school also offered Medical Assisting, a Paralegal program, a Tourism program, Administrative program and even IT. The Accounting program actually has the highest placement rate of graduating students at about 90% so I knew I was in the right program!
I enrolled in school the Summer 2010 and I graduated with honors with my Associate's Degree in Accounting January of 2012.
Present day my days are filled with reconciling our company bank account making sure that all money coming in and going our is accounted for. I also process payments, donations, expense reimburesments, invoices and check deposits. No, I am not a CPA and I don't have any plans to become one soon as I am currently trying to expand my experience!
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This is my "official" work picture.. I was about 15 pounds lighter (pre-marriage days when I actually exercised like I was supposed to!)
By the time I was 20 I decided I didn't want to work at Taco Bell the rest of my life, I wanted a career! I wanted an 8-5, to wear outfits not uniforms to work and well I wanted to make more money and be able to sustain myself in the real world. I also wanted to do this as soon as possible, I didn't want to be a broke college student for 4 years before I actually got a job that made decent money. So, I started looking at a private trade school in my hometown and as soon as I saw it "Accounting Associate's Degree" a huge huge light bulb went on and I thought "this is it, this is what I want." Disclosure: Trade Schools are not for everybody, I understand that a lot of people end up with a chunk of debt and a career in a market that is super competitive but I had faith that Accounting skills would help me obtain a career fairly quickly and I was willing to make that investment. My trade school also offered Medical Assisting, a Paralegal program, a Tourism program, Administrative program and even IT. The Accounting program actually has the highest placement rate of graduating students at about 90% so I knew I was in the right program!
I enrolled in school the Summer 2010 and I graduated with honors with my Associate's Degree in Accounting January of 2012.
I had to dig real deep in my FB photos to find this picture and I have a hard time sharing it because when I graduated I was at my heaviest.. I was well over 300 pounds and I was a really sad person inside and wanted to get out so bad. On a lighter note, that's my sister in the purple striking a pose. Here I am with my Aunt, Uncle, my two cousins and as mentioned, my sister.
Present day my days are filled with reconciling our company bank account making sure that all money coming in and going our is accounted for. I also process payments, donations, expense reimburesments, invoices and check deposits. No, I am not a CPA and I don't have any plans to become one soon as I am currently trying to expand my experience!
This is my "official" work picture.. I was about 15 pounds lighter (pre-marriage days when I actually exercised like I was supposed to!)
Unofficial work selfie taken in "present" time. Quick story, that Money Tree in the background was given to my by my favorite Aunt Teresa as a gift in 2012 on my birthday right after graduating college. To this day, my Money Tree is still the only plant I've managed to keep alive. The Calla Lily pot my Father in Law kept alive for me obviously doesn't count. I think I shall name my plant Old Faithful.
And that about wraps it up!
~Mely
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