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Author Archives: txcpa2b
Final Blog
Blogger: Clayton Farris As my time as a student comes to an end, I do not quite know how to feel. I am excited to be done – . I am eager to start working – >:). But I am … Continue reading
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Observing Differences
Guest Blogger: Xin Chen I have come to the U.S. for about six months and finished my first semester in a graduate accounting program. I can’t stop myself from comparing my U.S. school to my undergraduate school in China. The … Continue reading
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E-mail Etiquette
Blogger: Kelly McNeil One piece of advice I wish someone had told me about more clearly is the proper use of e-mail in the workplace. E-mailing friends is very different from e-mailing co-workers and bosses, so I will give you … Continue reading
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Why Am I Here?
Guest Blogger: Samuel Teichelman, Senior at UTD Why am I here? Because it’s much more fun than studying or reading musty textbooks. Because I love to write. Because I’m opinionated. But in a broader sense, why am I here? Why … Continue reading
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Social Media: Friend or Foe?
Blogger: Diane Henry On my Facebook account, I have over 700 “friends.” Going through the list, I can tell you exactly how I know each person, but I can honestly say that I don’t keep a personal friendship with each … Continue reading
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State Society Membership: Not Just a Line on Your Resume
Check out this article from AICPA’s student website, ThisWaytoCPA.com. It discusses the benefits of belonging to a state society. Aside from the obvious benefit of adding your membership to your resume, this article talks about the not-so-obvious benefits like learning formal … Continue reading
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There IS such a thing as too much studying!
Blogger: Kelly McNeil I know we have written previously about taking breaks during studying to let your mind refocus and rest for a bit, but this topic really hit home with me this week. All of us bloggers have started … Continue reading
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Confidence For The Win!
Blogger: Clayton Farris Whether we like it or not, exams are a large deciding factor in life’s success. As early as kindergarten and as late as college, tests determine whether or not an individual is knowledgeable enough to advance to … Continue reading
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No Suit, No Service
Blogger: Diane Henry There is nothing worse than walking into an interview or job and starting off 10 feet behind your competition. The workplace is like a race: not everyone wins. In this race, that 10 feet can easily become … Continue reading
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Finding a Mentor
Blogger: Kelly McNeil One of the most important pieces of advice that I can give is to find a mentor or someone to look up to whether in your career, school, or just life in general. Throughout grade school my … Continue reading
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The Value of Rest
Blogger: Lauren Carr “There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” ― Alan Cohen I have already written about working hard, but now it’s time to look at the other side of the … Continue reading
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It’s Okay to Be Undecided
Blogger: Clayton Farris To all of the high school seniors and college freshman who do not know what they want to do with their lives yet, let me tell you this: IT’S OK!! Despite what your teachers and career-focused friends … Continue reading
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Complaining
“Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier.” -Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture Blogger: Diane … Continue reading
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What to expect in an Interview
Blogger: Kelly McNeil My first interview related to accounting came when I interviewed to become part of the PPA program that we have here at UTD. This program selects the top accounting students and prepares them for a career for … Continue reading
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Is this going to be on the test???
Blogger: Lauren Carr “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” ― Benjamin Franklin Just like Clay, I am burnt out on school. Ever since I came back from my full-time internship, I have found it very difficult to find … Continue reading
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When the finish line is in sight…
Blogger: Clayton Farris OK, I’ll admit it. I am burnt out at school. After five years, my gas tank is running on empty. Fortunately, I am in my last semester of courses. After this semester, the only thing that lies … Continue reading
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Don’t Turn Down Great Opportunities
Blogger: Kelly McNeil When I first switched my major to accounting, I had no idea what kind of job I wanted to get with my degree. I knew CPA is a prestigious title to get, but I didn’t know what … Continue reading
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Efficiency: Carrying All of the Grocery Bags into the House so You Don’t Have to Make Multiple Trips
Blogger: Diane Henry Or is it? Okay, we’ve all done it. I know that I have on multiple (and by that I mean “all”) occasions. It usually starts with me opening my trunk and loading the bag handles up my … Continue reading
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Working Hard, or Hardly Working?
Blogger: Lauren Carr “My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much … Continue reading
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Cool Chameleons
Blogger: Clayton Farris Chameleons are incredible. They have the ability to change colors to match their surroundings—to adapt to any situation their environment calls for. Without this capability, chameleons would often fall prey to their carnivorous villains. Whoa, this … Continue reading
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The Importance of Calculators
Blogger: Kelly McNeil Some might think it is funny that I am writing a blog on the importance of knowing how to use a calculator, but it is a very important task to know! A few months ago, I was … Continue reading
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Nothing’s More Relaxing Than Reading on the Beach
Blogger: Diane Henry Remember when you were in middle or high school and everyone thought that you were a troublemaker if you had to take summer school? Driving around early on a Monday morning in June, you could see the … Continue reading
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“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius
Blogger: Lauren Carr Everyone has heard the old saying. It sounds simple enough, until we have to figure out what job we love. I recently read a Forbes article that addresses this issue. I agree with many of the points … Continue reading
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The Cost of Hard Work
Blogger: Clayton Farris As I progress through my college education, I find myself in a bit of a catch-22; I feel a stronger NEED to partake in my favorite leisure activities, but I have less time to do so. We … Continue reading
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How I Ended Up As An Accountant
Blogger: Kelly McNeil When I was in high school, I really had an interest in math. Numbers and formulas were actually fun for me to figure out. When it came to choosing a college major, I felt that math wasn’t … Continue reading
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“Accountant” and “Interesting” Are Not Mutually Exclusive
Blogger: Diane Henry When I decided that I wanted to get my CPA, I was excited. I finally had a response to that question that every college student cringes at: “So what are you going to do with your life … Continue reading
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Meet the Bloggers!
TSCPA is excited to introduce you to the newest batch of bloggers from UT-Dallas! From left to right meet Kelly McNeil, Diane Henry, Lauren Carr, and Clayton Farris. You can learn a little bit about each of them on our … Continue reading
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Thanks to the bloggers!
TSCPA is so very grateful to the UTD bloggers who shared their stories here over the last nine months! We wish you all the best as you continue in your pursuit of the CPA credential. Your insight and willingness to … Continue reading
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Graduating
Blogger: Eric Rivetna Hello to our loyal readers, it looks like this my last blog post. I just wanted to write a short post today about accounting and how it has brought so much to my life beyond a … Continue reading
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A few CPA exam observations.
Blogger: Tim Ellis I would like to just briefly touch on some of the things that I feel are important when preparing for the CPA exam. I think that this advice can be used no matter which review course or … Continue reading
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Appearance does matter
By Tripp Smitham Regardless of whether or not you plan to be an auditor, you will have to take the audit portion of the CPA exam. In studying for audit, you will become very familiar with the two concepts behind … Continue reading
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It’s never too early to start thinking about retirement
Blogger: Jasmine Hernandez I am not planning to retire anytime soon, and I know this blog title seems really strange for someone just at the beginning of their career. Truth is I am not really talking about retirement in the … Continue reading
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CPA Exam Prep
Blogger: Eric Rivetna A lot of people seem to be confused about how to prepare for the CPA exam. If you do a Google search on CPA exam preparation you will see a wide array of people struggling with how … Continue reading
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What’s the Point of Production Management?
Blogger: Tripp Smitham Every student out there at some point or another has questioned why they have to take certain classes. I have heard many accounting students complain about Production Management in particular but you can replace that with any … Continue reading
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Accounting classes aren’t the only important ones
Blogger: Tim Ellis In my college career, I feel that I have taken many useful classes that are paying off for me as I finish up my degree and sit for the CPA exam. Some of these courses are the … Continue reading
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It can always get worse
Blogger: Tripp Smitham Despite the doom and gloom sound, having the outlook that things can always get worse is actually meant to offer encouragement. I know it sounds about as sensible as one of Troy McClure’s self-help videos like “Smoke … Continue reading
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Don’t let others make the choice for you
Blogger: Jasmine Hernandez When I started the recruiting process I really didn’t know if I wanted to be in tax or audit. To me tax sounded interesting so that’s what I put as my preference. Once recruiting got started it … Continue reading
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What CPA Exam Study Materials are the Best?
Blogger: Eric Rivetna When you’re studying for the CPA exam a lot of students begin to ask questions about what CPA review course they should take. The answer to that question is that it doesn’t matter. As long as you’re … Continue reading
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Changing Majors
Blogger: Tim Ellis I’m not sure off the top of my head the statistics concerning how many college students change majors throughout their undergraduate careers. I would bet it’s a pretty high number. Whatever the stats say I definitely fall … Continue reading
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Studying for the CPA is a marathon not a sprint…. Great, what does that mean?
Blogger: Tripp Smitham Life and sports are full of sayings supposedly full of good advice that must sound much better in a person’s head than when you actually hear them. Baseball seems to be a perfect environment for such thoughtless … Continue reading
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Just because it’s tried and true doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.
Blogger: Jasmine Hernandez Throughout my undergraduate I always studied the same way, finding a quiet secluded place where I could focus on the material without any distractions. I spent many long nights nestled away in the back corner of the … Continue reading
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There is no best way to spend time away from class and studying, there is just the best way to spend YOUR time.
Blogger: Tripp Smitham Lots of students have questions about what extracurricular activities they should pursue. More often than not they are concerned with which activities will benefit them the most when it comes to their education and future career. This … Continue reading
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Focus on the things you have control over
Blogger: Tripp Smitham It’s January and that means many students have already started winter internships in public accounting or are going to start within the next couple of weeks. Internships are a very exciting and rewarding experience, but they can … Continue reading
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Don’t sweat it… there’s still time to decide
Blogger: Jasmine Hernandez In high school, I played around with the idea of working in the medical field. It just seemed practical. As a junior in high school, I took a course in which I got the chance to shadow … Continue reading
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Should you go for Big 4 or Midmarket?
Blogger: Tim Ellis The decision to put your eggs in the Big 4 or midmarket firm basket is one we must make as aspiring public accountants. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and you must weigh these along with your personality … Continue reading
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Be more than an accountant
Blogger: Tripp Smitham Accounting is a very challenging and rewarding profession but to really be the best accountant you have to be more than an accountant. I know that sounds strange and I know I used accountant a lot in … Continue reading
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What you need before you can take a seat
Blogger: Eric Rivetna Hey guys, this has been a busy week for me. So I am going to keep this blog short and sweet. These past few weeks I’ve been preparing to sit for the CPA exam here in Texas. … Continue reading
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Networking is an everyday activity
Blogger: Jasmine Hernandez I’m sure by now it’s no big shocker that networking is an imperative skill to master. But do you really understand what that means? It’s so important to understand that it’s not about sucking up to partners … Continue reading
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How to Survive Intermediate Accounting
Blogger: Tim Ellis For this post, I just want to quickly touch on something that is relevant to every accounting student: Intermediate Accounting. There is no getting around the fact that to receive your undergraduate degree, you must complete … Continue reading
Make the most of your part-time job
Blogger: Tripp Smitham Many college students work part-time jobs that are far less glamorous than the careers they plan on having after graduation. Most students view these jobs as nothing more than a source of income to help pay for … Continue reading
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