I have formally decided to attend Towson University, even though I have recently learned the joint program with University of Baltimore is not really "Joint" so much as it's co-operative. Basically, I can take classes at UB without having to enroll at both schools and with permission from the department head. However, when I graduate, I will only have a degree from Towson University. This has apparently caused a lot of confusion with the MS in Accounting & Business Advisory Students.
Now, I am just trying to get my Fall schedule lined up. Ideally I would like to take Accounting 300 on Monday night and US Business Law on Tuesday nights, but it looks like I might have to take the Management class at 8:00 in the morning on M, W, and F if I can't bypass the pre-requisites.
Wish me luck.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Aunt Louisa
Today would have been Great Aunt Louisa's 82nd Birthday.
She was like a second mother to my father and a second grandmother to me and my sister.
As I've gotten older, I can look back and appreciate her more and I wonder what she would have been like to know as an adult. I was in my early twenties when she died, but I was still trying to figure things out and couldn't really see her as anything other than a "grown-up." I have questions, now, that I wish I had known to ask her when she was alive.
Did she and my grandmother have a similar relationship to me and my sister?
Did she ever want kids of her own?
What did she think her life would be like when she was younger?
Did her current life meet or exceed those expectations?
Who is the first person she would want to greet her in heaven?
What was it like for her when Mommom died?
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| Mommom and Great Aunt Louisa |
Today would have been Great Aunt Louisa's 82nd Birthday.
She was like a second mother to my father and a second grandmother to me and my sister.
As I've gotten older, I can look back and appreciate her more and I wonder what she would have been like to know as an adult. I was in my early twenties when she died, but I was still trying to figure things out and couldn't really see her as anything other than a "grown-up." I have questions, now, that I wish I had known to ask her when she was alive.
Did she and my grandmother have a similar relationship to me and my sister?
Did she ever want kids of her own?
What did she think her life would be like when she was younger?
Did her current life meet or exceed those expectations?
Who is the first person she would want to greet her in heaven?
What was it like for her when Mommom died?
Monday, May 7, 2012
B-School: Acceptance Letter (The Reach School)
If I was relieved to get my acceptance letter from Towson/UB, you can imagine I am completely shocked to get one from American University in Washington, DC. I applied there as my reach school, mostly to see if I could but not really expecting to make the cut, and I am just over the moon about my acceptance. It's #87 out of the top #100 business programs in the country, in THE COUNTRY. There were 32 students accepted into their program last year and I could be one of them this year.
With Towson and UB I felt that I had met their qualifications so that's why they accepted me, but with American I honestly feel it's because of my efforts with the essays. The median GMAT and median GPA were both higher than what I had. I knew that the essays would have to be some kind of amazing in order to get in and I worked my ass off on them. I had multiple people read and re-read them until I was satisfied. Writing truly is one of my greatest strengths and I think I had forgotten that somewhere along the way. (Yes, I write here and at my job but it's never a concentrated effort to achieve something.) But more importantly, I set a goal and then followed the steps to get to that goal and it completely paid off. I accomplished what I set out to do and I did it well.
So I know that, regardless of which program I ultimately decide to go with, I will succeed in this long term goal of earning my Master's Degree. Yes, going to classes for the next 4-7 years is a longer period of time than the last year I've spent preparing for and applying to grad school. But I know that I have the tools and the ambition to finish whatever I want to set my mind to. It's a powerful feeling, I'm not really sure how else to describe it. I need to bottle this for those times when I feel that the walls are closing in on me.
So often I feel like I am a great pretender, just going through the motions of what I think people expect, and I don't realize that I really am that talented, intelligent, multi-faceted person. This acceptance is evidence I can hold in my hand that says I really am that good. But it's so much bigger than that. It's all those times when my dad's ex would tell me I was stupid or worthless made infinitely smaller in the bigger picture of my life. It's me not letting that time period define me or control my future - harnessing that negative energy and turning into something positive for myself. And, if I can do that, hell, I can do anything.
With Towson and UB I felt that I had met their qualifications so that's why they accepted me, but with American I honestly feel it's because of my efforts with the essays. The median GMAT and median GPA were both higher than what I had. I knew that the essays would have to be some kind of amazing in order to get in and I worked my ass off on them. I had multiple people read and re-read them until I was satisfied. Writing truly is one of my greatest strengths and I think I had forgotten that somewhere along the way. (Yes, I write here and at my job but it's never a concentrated effort to achieve something.) But more importantly, I set a goal and then followed the steps to get to that goal and it completely paid off. I accomplished what I set out to do and I did it well.
So I know that, regardless of which program I ultimately decide to go with, I will succeed in this long term goal of earning my Master's Degree. Yes, going to classes for the next 4-7 years is a longer period of time than the last year I've spent preparing for and applying to grad school. But I know that I have the tools and the ambition to finish whatever I want to set my mind to. It's a powerful feeling, I'm not really sure how else to describe it. I need to bottle this for those times when I feel that the walls are closing in on me.
So often I feel like I am a great pretender, just going through the motions of what I think people expect, and I don't realize that I really am that talented, intelligent, multi-faceted person. This acceptance is evidence I can hold in my hand that says I really am that good. But it's so much bigger than that. It's all those times when my dad's ex would tell me I was stupid or worthless made infinitely smaller in the bigger picture of my life. It's me not letting that time period define me or control my future - harnessing that negative energy and turning into something positive for myself. And, if I can do that, hell, I can do anything.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
B-School: Acceptance Letter
I received an acceptance letter from the Towson/University of Baltimore joint Master of Science in Accounting and Business Advisory Services program over the weekend. I hate to say that I was worried I wouldn't be accepted, for the most part I hadn't even entertained that thought - it just wasn't a possibility, but I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when I opened up the envelope and read the word, "Congratulations." It is conditional acceptance, I think because I have an English Degree and not business, so I'll have to maintain a 3.0 or be dropped from the program altogether. I'm not worried about that though. I have a goal in mind and I'm moving forward.
I've scheduled a meeting with the program director for advising and everything seems to be moving forward very nicely. I estimate it will cost me about $5,000 a semester and my company will reimburse about $5,000 a year, so that means I will take out anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 a year in student loans. If I take 2 classes a semester and only attend the fall and spring semesters, it will take me about 6.5 years to finish and about $30, 000 to $60,000 in student loans when all is said and done. If I take summer and winter classes, I can be finished in 4.5 years and about $30,000 to $45,000 in student loans.
I feel pretty good about this. By the time I am 35/36 I could have my masters in Accounting. The next thing to consider will be whether or not I want to seriously consider sitting for the CPA exam.
I've scheduled a meeting with the program director for advising and everything seems to be moving forward very nicely. I estimate it will cost me about $5,000 a semester and my company will reimburse about $5,000 a year, so that means I will take out anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 a year in student loans. If I take 2 classes a semester and only attend the fall and spring semesters, it will take me about 6.5 years to finish and about $30, 000 to $60,000 in student loans when all is said and done. If I take summer and winter classes, I can be finished in 4.5 years and about $30,000 to $45,000 in student loans.
I feel pretty good about this. By the time I am 35/36 I could have my masters in Accounting. The next thing to consider will be whether or not I want to seriously consider sitting for the CPA exam.
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