Villamin, Gebb

Professor Riedel
STACC English 1A
04 May 2014
Essay #5
I began to develop my passion for learning during my early days of grade school where I
would cruise with decent grades, but never aimed for the top since I was always content with
passing rather than succeeding. My philosophy was always onto the notion that staying in the
middle wouldnt make me better or worse than my peers and that I wouldnt stand out to gain
attention as long as I stayed average. My mother was the one who salvaged my flawed ideology
and my sister who became a model of excellence for me to follow. Through my mothers
guidance, she developed a sense of work ethic inside of me because of her concern and desire for
me to succeed for the benefit myself and the family as a whole. Growing up with strict parents,
my mother was an excellent learner as she disciplined herself at such a young age to finish
college with the same mindset. My parents did not grow up with the same advantages I had, but
it did not stop my mother from training and developing my sense of learning through her
constant perseverance of tutoring me regardless of her long hours at work just to make sure that I
acknowledged the importance of my grades for a future that I can believe in. It is through her
nurture, discipline, and care that I was able to develop my own personal work ethic for my
studies and helped me adapt to the rigorous workload she would provide me because of the
necessity for challenge and to establish a passion for learning. She basically created the
foundation of my work ethic through constant vigilance and if it wasnt for her, I wouldnt have
been able to pursue a career that gave me a sense of comfort and responsibility for my own
future decisions. My sister was the model of academic discipline in my life, and it is through her
that I was able to understand and gain a love for reading because of her consistent advice to
make me read the literary works that influenced her to work hard. Her passion for learning
became my own sense of motivation as she attained numerous academic awards and, inevitably,
made me jealous and competitive in my own regard towards my peers. My competitive drive
helped me stay relevant throughout grade school until I hit a massive road bump towards middle
school. At this time, I needed to adapt to a new environment studying in the Philippines where
my peers took the academic challenge with ease. I found myself trying to catch up to them in a
lot of ways, and my time studying there had made me reflect on my diminishing work ethic and
motivated me to renew my passion for learning again when my classmates outmatched me in
multiple subject areas. It was a depressing time, but the experience I gained was overwhelmingly
positive in the end because it helped me grow as an individual learner for years to come.
One particularly good experience in my past education was the last day of high school
which was graduation day. What was special about this moment was the recognition from my
peers that I was the Valedictorian of the class and that they accepted me for who I am regardless
of my personality or values as a person. Its a surreal feeling to finally get the recognition for all
the hard work Ive put in to get to this point where I can speak in front of my friends, peers, and
especially my family about the accomplishments that Ive completed and the journey of my
classmates throughout our entire high school life. It was incredibly coincidental that my
graduation date would fall on my 18
th
birthday, and at that moment, my peers, my classmates,
and my friends acknowledged me for who I am, not what I did. From that time, I understood the
meaning of feeling accepted by people with diverse backgrounds for the first time. This
experience changed my life, and I would not have it any other way.
One bad experience in my previous education was my time studying in the Philippines
from 5
th
-7
th
grade. This time was particularly difficult for me because I lived in Guam for most
of my life and when I moved, I had to adapt to my new surroundings with very competitive
classmates surrounding me and a culture that made me reconnect with my country. During that
time, I blamed my low grades on my time adjusting to the new system, new surroundings, and
my fixed mindset. I inevitably surrounded myself with safety barriers because of how different
my life changed from having a relatively easy time breezing through class to confronting
subjects that actually made me work for a grade. I never received a grade equivalent to an A
anymore as I settled for passing marks. My perspective on academics was shattered, and that
experience allowed me to grow from my stereotypical mindset and accept a broader perception
of life living in the Philippines and the demands I would have to start putting effort into.
My passion for reading and writing started in middle school during my bad educational
years where I earned low marks consistently due to my difficulty to adjust to the academic
environment and constant problems around the household. Since there were many issues in
regards to financial stability and underwhelming academic performance, I tried to get away from
all of these concerns by locking myself in the school library whenever I had the chance and fall
into literary worlds that shaped my perception of life philosophically. Some influential works
who helped me through this time were J.D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye and Stephen
Chboskys The Perks of Being a Wallflower for their ability to draft a diverse perspective on
coming of age stories that really opened my eyes to reality as a youth going through different
circumstances with the same problems. I loved reading because the test made me delve into the
authors world throughout my problematic years that I learned and matured from this experience
as a better person. My passion to write stems from my interest in certain topics that motivate me.
For example, I admire good movies that compel me to write reviews about them. There is a
certain sense of passion to write for something that you strongly want to convey, and through
writing I discover my capacity to develop my thought process and experience as a reader that
helps me incorporate all of these qualities to improve my writing skills to my own benefit and
satisfaction.
During my first week of college classes, I felt dj vu all over again when I saw my new
classmates having conversations and relating with one another casually. I expected everyone to
be fairly new and I wanted to have a fresh start as a college student. At this stage, I was sharing
both a fixed and growth mindset because I was willing to accept the rigorous challenges of
college and make connections with my peers, however, I was stuck with the notion that I would
never be able to branch out or build friendships and connections with my classmates because of
my shy personality that my anxiety actually came back to haunt me. In this moment, I became
the victim of my own circumstances because of my personal view on how I wanted to present
myself in class, and it affected me for some time. I thought that if everyone already knew each
other, what would be the point of fitting in when I should be working on my own mistakes
without the support of others. I knew I had to outgrow from my fixed mindset at this point and
adopt the growth mindset of accepting challenges and criticism as they come into my life
because it would help me in the long-term if I believe that there is room for growth within my
circumstances. I was tunneling my own limitations on how other people would perceive me, but
I knew that if I actually reflected on my mistakes to actually confront and repair them, then I
would be truly straying away from my fixed mindset and start to open up to my peers earned my
respect and attention fairly.
Throughout my previous education, I have definitely fostered both a fixed and growth
mindset in my academic goals and work ethic. With a fixed mindset, I held conservative views
about my intelligence and effort to work on my studies that it hit a point where I consistently
avoided challenges because I did not want to confront my problems. I only wanted to work on
things that interested me, which in turn did not help me develop a passion for other academic
subjects. I was always anxious to receive criticism because of my ignorant attitude that my work
was good enough meaning that I gave the accurate amount of effort it deserved and easily gave
up on obstacles that required more effort. I held onto a fixed mindset for so long because nobody
really gave me a reason to work harder than others or accept my work for what it is since I was
always in the middle of the class or above. The driving factor for me to attain a growth mindset
was the time I entered high school where I was placed in an English Honors class. I thought I
would breeze through it but when I received my first essay back from my English teacher, it was
unsatisfactory. At that point, I began to question myself as to why I received the grade and
actually confronted my teacher about it to which he replied that I did not provide enough effort
or attention to actually respond to his prompt to the best of my ability. He believed I had the
potential to get a better grade, but he was adamant and strict with me because he did not want me
to fall into the same hole that he went through. My trust in him slowly grew and helped me
establish a basis for a growth mindset for my academics as I began to actually put in the work
necessary. My 9
th
grade English teacher gave me a reason to strive for success, and it is through
him that I was able to turn myself around from being a lazy worker to a determined learner. A
growth mindset helped me discover a hidden passion for math that caught me by surprise, and it
was at this moment where I developed a love for data and analyzing numbers which pointed me
to a career that piqued my interests.
Ask a child what they want to be in life, and the chances of them wanting to be an
accountant are either slim or nonexistent. Probably the biggest reason for aspiring students not to
choose such a practical profession is the mundane thought of sitting down in front of a computer
typing numbers, signing checks, and traveling to client's workplaces on a monthly basis.
Accounting is essentially that - a regular office job geared towards examining numbers,
investigating financial reports, and computing taxes. But that doesn't mean it has its own
benefits; the salaries are decent, job growth continues to surge, and its a stable career path once
established. In order to be an accountant, one must first understand the duties and responsibilities
of the occupation, knowing the skills and specific discourse through the perspective of a
professional, examining the reasons that motivate prospects to pursue the career field, and the
educational steps needed to succeed.
Whenever people think about accountants, they usually shrug at the thought of another
type of office job that primarily focuses on finances. According to the Merriam-Webster
dictionary, accounting is the system of recording and summarizing business and financial
transactions and analyzing, verifying, and reporting the results. This means that accountants
need to be proficient at recording financial statements, have the ability to analyze different
accounts such as budgets and taxes, and identifying possible solutions to increasing the economic
welfare of a company. The field relies on using computer programs such as Microsoft Office to
create financial reports and tax software to prepare tax statements. A lot of accountants work
independently from each other unless collaborative effort is needed in important company
projects. Some accountants work full-time in companies while others such as internal auditors
travel to other client's businesses on a regular basis. A crucial aspect about accounting is having
the ability to communicate and explain procedures in written financial reports with the staff to
gain a better sense for the economic direction of the company. Accountants generally enjoy the
challenge, workload, and professionalism that accompanies the job even if it can be very
stressful at times. An accountant must bear the responsibilities that the job requires, but the fruits
of labor and hard work are very rewarding and satisfying in the long run.
I had the pleasure of interviewing my godmother, Nelly Manalo, who works as a certified
public accountant for the construction company called American Gunite. During my field visit to
her workplace, I caught a glimpse of her daily life as an accountant that reinforced my
understanding of what the profession entails. She worked in a simple office cubicle isolated from
other coworkers whose clothes ranged from casual to professional depending on their
occupation. My interviewee had plenty of documents scattered throughout her desk with plenty
of files, folders, and papers that looked to be written reports and employee checks. She was
typing on Microsoft Excel on what seemed like records of financial inventory that needed to be
reported while enjoying a hot cup of coffee next to her computer. Throughout the interview, I
questioned her about some of her duties and responded that she would be signing disbursement
vouchers, writing checks to all suppliers, and setting a meeting with the staff regarding
invoices that are made regarding retrievals on a daily basis. A lot of the responsibilities that she
explained to me relied on her ability to make coherent and detailed reports on keeping track of
financial records and it also helps to write legibly when it comes to signing checks and vouchers.
The occupation also relies on having a familiar vocabulary and a strong grasp of financial and
accounting terms such as knowing the types of tax forms like 1099 or W-2 because the job
commonly deals with it on a regular basis. She explains that the job requires being able to
analyze all the entries that were done by the staff, must be mathematically proficient, and must
be able to analyze the financial standings of the company, expressing that accountants have the
obligation to recognize and identify the fiscal status of the company and ensuring the right steps
to a stable economic future. Ms. Manalo says that she enjoys the challenges that her profession
brings to her everyday and says that if I had the chance to relive my school years before, I
wouldnt change it (accounting) at all. She created a different image of what an accountant does
when one understands the responsibilities and processes of a real professional and she took the
liberty out of her own time to educate and inspire a person like me who is greatly interested in
the field.
According to the career research program EUREKA, accounting is projected to have a
faster than average growth rate of 14% in the next five years because of the increasing demand
for certified public accountants as new start-up businesses and companies rise. What makes
accounting such an ordinary but coveted position is the relatively smaller competition in
comparison to other impacted job markets and it's growing job availability. Accounting isnt just
a profession where people are proficient with numbers; a companys financial stability and
organization depend on accountants to provide and create flexible opportunities for financial
growth. In a journal written by Mary-Jo Kranacher, an expert certified public accountant and
fraud examiner, she discusses that accounting isnt just about job opportunities that many
people have said as a main motivator for entering the field, but she hopes to change the
perception of how accounting is viewed to prospective students who see it as a guaranteed path
to obtaining an easy job once theyve obtained a degree. I respect the significance of her
intentions because the area of accounting is just as broad as any other field but it lacks the
rigorous training and information that other fields like nursing and engineering offer. She says
that if we are to regain the respect and credibility of the general public, we need to change the
perception of accountants as "bean counters" or "soldiers," both inside and outside of our
profession (6). In order for accounting to be recognized as more than just an office job in the
traditional sense, it should be viewed as a career that will pave the way for more opportunities
and growth for the individual because of the potential networks, skills, and training that the
career possesses. Kranacher ends the journal by stating that the survivors will be those who are
able to adapt to a dynamic environment and demonstrate that our profession's services add value
to a business (7). She clearly presents a suggestion that adds merit and integrity to the values of
what it means to be an accountant and what the career should represent as a whole. Accounting
deserves to be a respectable choice because it opens gateways to become better individuals if one
takes the time to get to know and understand the profession.
In order to attain an accounting major, its important to fulfill the IGETC requirements as
well as transferable courses that are specific to accounting that correlate with the specific
university. Using the ASSIST website, a database that contains helpful information in knowing
which classes to take before transferring to another university, it's critical to take the introductory
Accounting and Business classes after the general education requirements are met because it
allows stronger concentration on the classes specific to accounting later on as transfer years get
closer. It's also important to do well at Mathematics courses because it is an essential building
block and a core tool to succeeding in gaining an accounting or business degree. To further
progress in the career field, one must try searching for part-time work at tax preparation
companies like H&R Block or volunteering at local credit unions over the summer because of
the valuable experience, training, and connections that could potentially be gained from it. The
Career Research Center is also a valuable resource in every college because of the wealth of
information it holds and the amount of opportunities and connections that counselors can offer.
The secret to securing an accounting degree is the ability to plan the educational goals that one
must meet before transferring and being able to carry out that plan through dedication,
motivation, and hard work.
Being an accountant doesn't just mean sitting down at a cubicle all day observing
numbers; it's for those who are willing to be challenged by a profession that requires critical
analysis and mathematical understanding of financial responsibilities. On the outside, accounting
is a simple, yet stressful office job that has its benefits, but under the surface it is like any other
occupation that rewards the individual if the determination and motivation to work in the career
field merits the amount of time invested into it. A prospect who wants to break into the
accounting profession must understand that the skills and experiences needed, the educational
planning, recognizing the duties of the job, and identifying the motivation towards a rewarding
career are the fundamental requirements needed to succeed in the field. If there's a will, there's a
way - and accounting is no exception to that rule.