Living With Accountants

 Meg spent the weekend and most of the day studying for her A201 test scheduled for this evening.  She texted Doug several times with questions.  She told me that it helped, but still struggled with some of the vocab that had become common knowledge to her father.   Meg knew that both Doug and Cal had earned an A in the class, but said that she would be happy with a B.  She really liked accounting, but was ready to admit that she just wasn't as smart as they were in the subject.  Doug and I both told her that she does not have to compare herself to anyone else, just to do her best and set goals according to that.  I reminded her that from my experiences outside of the business school that a B in any of the accounting classes was definitely something to be proud of especially with some of the other prerequisites Meg had on her schedule this semester.

Later in the day Cal let me know that CFS, an accounting staffing group, had found him a part time position in South Bend that would keep him busy for the next four months.  The pay was impressive and the hours worked well with his study schedule, so he agreed to it right away.  I was happy for him.  I knew that only studying for the CPA these next three months would get pretty boring.  He had taken a practice test yesterday and said that he knew what he needed to work on before the real one.  I remembered back to  when Doug sat for the CPA and how intense that time period was in his life especially as he was finishing his last semseter at IU as well.  

I talked to Brett later on in the afternoon.  As we were the only two non-accounting majors in the Heinisch family I asked him what he thought about the subject especially since acccounting degrees paid well and Cal was able to find a job relatively easily.  He said that he was happy that his dad and siblings enjoyed math well enough to make a career out of it, but that he had never had an interest.  He strongly prefered his current position in customer care/sales.  I was happy to hear that.  It took him longer to find a job than Cal or Doug, but that didn't matter as he could provide for himself and loved what he was doing.  I, on the other hand, had a differing opinion about a career in accounting.  The one regret that I had in life was using my math skills to be a teacher instead of an accountant.  I would have much preferred that profession and it would have given me a lot of part time opportunities.  Overall, however, I don't spend much time thinking about it.  I loved being a teacher and got to spend a lot of time with my own children either at home or at school that way.  I am glad, however, that everyone else in our family so far chose another career path.  I think they will all be a lot happier that way.