My future career in pharmacy was well thought-out before college until the very moment I was questioned about how I felt about my life. I was assisting a patient in the pharmacy and she merely asked me, “How’s life?” My response of simply being content prompted an unexpected response from not only her but myself as well. She responded, shocked, that I couldn’t have used a better depiction and how satisfying it was to hear that I was content. Her stunned reaction made me question not just about how rare it was for others to provide a similar response but ultimately, whether or not I meant what I had said. Was I really content? That was when it truly hit me, I was not satisfied with my life. I did not want to become a pharmacist. For me, it was something that lacked exhilaration, something that I just had absolute no desire for. All because of this patient's comment, I made the drastic change to drop pharmacy and switch career paths.
I no longer wanted to make the same mistake and choose something I did not enjoy, like pharmacy. I wanted to explore something I have always been passionate about, which is numbers! While I found out the hard way about what I wanted to pursue in life, it was better for me to derive to this decision sooner than later. Later that year, I decided to get my feet wet by first taking an introduction to accounting course. It was so minimal and to explore even more, I took the subsequent course as well. After taking those courses, it utterly reinforced my decision to go into accounting. I enjoyed learning about the general ledger, financial statements and other accounting topics. I loved it.
The verdict to pursue accounting was easy for me after I recognized my strong curiosity in this subject. Learning through textbooks was not sufficient, I also wanted to see how accounting was relevant and applied in reality. Luckily at my current employment with OpenTable, I was given many opportunities to shadow my colleagues on the general ledger/accounts payable team. Observing them work with numbers and analyze variations daily made me feel reassured that this was something I can visualize myself doing. This is my future.
My job has helped me expand on many other skills that will benefit me throughout this program. Currently, our company is working on a huge billing implementation which required a great deal of reconciliation between our old billing system and Salesforce. Prior to implementing the new billing system, we needed to do research for over 3,000 accounts within a few days! Being able to complete this manual work on time required not only efficiency but accuracy as well, which are valued traits in the accounting field. I have developed great communication skills by working with a variation of colleagues which will be a great advantage when I need to work with other peers. In addition to those traits, thriving in my previous position in the pharmacy as well as my current position today, demonstrates my strong work ethic.
My strong work ethic and passion will help me flourish in this program because effectively finishing the program will be a valuable complement in allowing me to learn more about not just what I do but why. After completing the Masters of Accountancy program here at CSU East Bay, I aim to apply all the newly learned knowledge, practices and experiences and take the CPA exam. I am confident that this program will provide me the crucial knowledge, skills and applications to become a prodigious accountant.