Southern is a state of mind;*

1)      What are your educational goals and career objectives? Please address specifically.

Ever since I can remember I have wanted to be an accountant. For my eleventh birthday I even asked for a briefcase, various office supplies, and a “Staples” gift card. Here I am, nine years later, and one step closer to achieving my dream. I know what you are thinking – who “dreams” about becoming an accountant? Well, I may be one of a few, but thinking of my future career in the accounting field truly excites me.

From the time I graduated high school, I have had my entire future mapped out. I even decided to attend Florida Atlantic University because of its top nationwide accounting program. Surprisingly, three years later, I am still on track and enthusiastic about achieving those same goals. Since finances are tight in my family, my goals could never simply be, “what do I plan achieve?” They always had to include, “how can I afford achieving them all?” The first educational goal I am certain I want to accomplish is to graduate with my Master’s Degree in Accounting. The reason I am so focused on getting my masters is so that I can sit for the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) exam. Graduate school is not cheap, and with the constant increase in tuition, it makes it nearly impossible to be able to achieve such a goal. However, Florida Atlantic University offers an amazing program called the Accounting Scholars Program. This program is constructed for a student to receive a Bachelors/Masters of Accounting in a 5 year span, versus the usual 6. It does this by enrolling the eligible students in honors undergraduate classes at the same time as their graduate classes, which puts them in the work field an entire year earlier than a traditional student would. Not to mention, you get all of your graduate classes paid for, as well as opportunities to get a job as a Teachers Assistant. I do not get to apply until the summer of 2013, so I am hoping for the best when that time comes around.

Something I have learned through experience is to always have a Plan B. Since my Plan A for getting through graduate school is to be accepted into the Accounting Scholars Program at FAU, I have to plan if that acceptance does not happen. I cannot give up my dream based on not getting accepted into a program. Therefore, I have come up with an education goal alternate plan. Florida Atlantic University has a very creditable Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. Even though this route would add a year to my schooling, I can actually walk away with two masters at the end of the program versus one. I can do this because while getting MBA you have the option to get a specialization in a certain field. In my case, it would be a specialization in Accounting. However, because of the course load, if I took one extra masters class per semester I can walk away with not only the Masters of Business Administration with a specialization in Accounting, but also a Masters of Accounting. Depending on what option I end up taking, my end goal will still be achieved – to graduate with a Master’s degree to be able to sit for the CPA exam.

After graduation day, I plan to either go into forensic accounting or non-profit accounting. Through the next year I hope to find exactly which accounting I want to go into to finally find my place in the corporate world. Even though it has been a lot of work juggling school, work, Alpha Xi Delta, a boyfriend, family and friends, but I know that the reward of knowing that I have accomplish all I set out to do, will outweigh the struggles by a long shot.