The Problem with Accounting

As part of my MBA journey, one of the requirements was an 500-level Accounting class. 

I dreaded it. 

The thought of taking the class made me anxious, and like I did with math when I was going for my undergraduate degree, I put it off. I put it off until I had to take it, which was Winter 2021. 

During the 0 week, I opened the class, attempted to look ahead and shuddered. Besides hundreds of formulas to solve, there was a four-hour final.

Dear... Lord...

My father is a CFO and has worked with numbers for 45 years. I did not inherit his zest for figures. Give me a 20-page research paper any day of the week and twice on Sunday. But 20 accounting problems?

No.

A funny thing happened along the way. After the first week of class, I actually started to like it. Accounting is like a giant puzzle. You put together pieces of the puzzle and eventually you have a solution. During the very fast seven-week course, I only got stuck on two problems (one I could not figure out on my own) and I had a 106% heading into the final (extra credit helped that figure). I studied for the final like a maniac for two weeks. I scheduled it for Friday and when the exam began, I was kicking butt and taking names.

I had confidently answered 25 of the 140 questions.

Then I looked at the clock.

Ugh...

Just like that, three hours were gone. 

I had not even gotten halfway through the final and I had less than an hour.

Instead of calculating, I started guessing.

Here is the thing about college finals, they make up a good portion of your final grade. You can ace the homework and quizzes all you like, but bomb the final and you will be lucky to pass the class. So, imagine me, panicking at my computer as I watched the time tick away on my MBA 516 Advanced Accounting life.

When it was done, I bombed the final. Of 350 possible points, I got about 150. I was supremely disappointed because the reality was, I knew the formulas and calculations, I just ran out of time. It's been two weeks and I am still smarting. However, I did manage a B in the class when it was all said and done. The one and only time I will ever take an Accounting class in my life, I passed and could move on and continue the MBA journey. 

As the saying goes, time was not on my side. Did I learn some things though? Yes, I learned that Accounting is not as beastly as it appears. In other words, it's way better than Algebra.