Sanger Impact Challenge Continued - Cornerstone High School Visit

Welcome back, future accounting superstars! You may recall my blog post from back in October about the Sanger Leadership Center Impact Challenge. During our orientation, the MAcc class designed a year-long plan and a one day event to encourage middle/high school students to explore different business careers, engage in professional development, and become college ready.

Our MAcc Student Association philanthropy committee has been working hard to implement this plan throughout the year, making trips about every other month to Cornerstone Middle and High School in Detroit to work with the students.

This month’s trip revolved around helping students talk about their experiences in a way that could be useful on a resume or college application. Part of Cornerstone’s innovative curriculum involves a mandatory internship. Every Wednesday, high students go out into the community and work at an internship to gain real world work experience. Students I worked with worked at a grocery store, temporary job agency, law office, and nursing home.

It was so wonderful to help the students think about creative ways to communicate the impact they had on the organizations they interned with. The kids had to list out challenges as well, and I was very entertained by these. Common struggles included being afraid to initiate conversations with coworkers who were much older than they were and having difficulty staying awake in a quiet office environment.

I was so impressed by how accomplished and articulate the students were. Most 9th and 10th graders have never worked before and these kids have an experience that most students don’t get until their first college internship! It was a great trip and very energizing to work with high schoolers. We will be Skyping the students next month to work with them on their resumes and they will be visiting Ross in April!

My experience as a MAcc Graduate Student Staff Assistant, designing the college readiness curriculum during the Impact Challenge, and working with the students at Cornerstone High School helped me realize that I really enjoy helping students figure out their college and career paths. Once I graduate and start my career, I will seek out opportunities to mentor students of all ages.

Best of luck as you prepare your applications and GO BLUE!

2 CPA Exams/Red Wings Game

Welcome back, future accounting superstars! Last week was great: I went to my First Red Wings hockey game and I took two CPA exams.

Let’s start with the fun part first: Two CPA exams! No, I’m not a genius who’s able to study for two tests simultaneously while in grad school and working. When I applied for the CPA exam in California and got my Notice To Schedule (NTS) 9 months ago (some states are 6 months), I signed up for more exams than I should have. I ended up being busier than I planned during my summer internship and with classes and recruiting during Fall semester. If you’re unfamiliar with the CPA exam application process, this article does a good job explaining it in general, as the requirements differ by state.

Red Wings hockey game at the Joe Louis Arena!

Fast forward to last weekend, when my NTS expired. I was able to study for REG this semester, but unable to properly take AUD before my NTS expired. I decided to sit for the exam because if I didn’t use it, I would lose it and have to reapply anyways. I didn’t feel completely lost since I took an audit class in undergrad and I’m in the MAcc audit class right now. If I somehow pass the exam, I will be overjoyed (and probably blog about it). Please learn from my mistakes and only apply for as many CPA exams as you can reasonably take!

I’m glad I took time to go to the Red Wings game, even in the midst of my hectic week. It’s the Red Wing’s last season at the Joe Louis Arena, so it was great to experience the venue. It was a MSA (Macc Student Association) event, so a good number of us carpooled to Detroit for the game. It ended up being a really close game, with the Red Wings losing in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was my second hockey game ever and I had a lot of fun.

Best of luck as you prepare your applications and GO BLUE!

Winter Is Coming

Welcome back, future accounting superstars! This week’s topic will be chill--I’m going to talk about winter in Ann Arbor.  

I am from the San Francisco Bay Area where winter means we wear jeans instead of shorts. I have never lived through a real winter or even lived somewhere it snows. Surprisingly, I have had a very easy time adjusting to the weather in AA and I want to dispel any fears you might have about living through a real winter.

AA is in Southeast Michigan, which helps it not be quite so cold. The northern part of Michigan, or Upper Penninsula, is much worse. The average temperatures in January, the coldest month of the year in AA, are a high of 31 degrees Fahrenheit (-.4 degrees Celsius) and a low of 18 degrees Fahrenheit (-7.8 degrees celsius). I’ve attached a chart showing what the weather is like all year in AA.

We had great weather for our football games! It only snowed for the last part of the last home game, which was fun. The cheerleaders and football players ended up making snow angels on the field and “Let It Snow” rang through the loudspeakers after the game.

I live in the Munger Graduate Residences, which are about a 7 minute walk to Ross. All the sidewalks around campus are plowed so you have a clear path through the snow. They’re also heavily salted so you don’t slip on ice.  

The thing I miss the most about warmer days is the ability to exercise outdoors. While I try to run outside when the temperatures are above 30 degrees, I do end up working out at a gym most days. Luckily, there are several on campus like the new Intramural Sports building and Munger actually has its own mini gym on the top floor, complete with a rooftop track!

Don’t let weather stop you from attending the Ross MAcc program! It really isn’t that bad and the wonderful people, family atmosphere, and classes inside and outside of Ross more than make up for it.

Best of luck as you prepare your applications and GO BLUE!