A Quarter in The Fisher MAcc Under My Belt
I can't believe fall quarter has come and gone already. Seriously, it seems like last week I was making sure I had enough notebooks, pencils, and pens to last me 10 weeks. I was just sitting down to write my first blog post. I was getting ready to meet my professors for the first time. Yeah - that wasn't last week...
So what do I think about the MAcc program, now that I've actually had the chance to get my hands dirty? Come on - you know that on paper (or on the website) Fisher makes the program out to be incredible. "Work on incredible teams, learn from the best faculty, attend once in a lifetime guest speakers, and participate in great extracurriculars" are just a few of the claims you'll hear through Fisher. I can honestly say that each and every one of them is true. I'll even go so far as to back them up.
1. Work on incredible teams - Each of the courses I took this quarter involved teamwork. Some (Professor Turner's 804) required a ton, while others (Professor William's 824) required a little bit less. In any case, there's a slim chance that you'll work with the same people for every class, so you get a lot of exposure. And this exposure will be to different thinking styles, different backgrounds, and different cultures. My finance 811 group, for instance, consisted of six members: an American student, a Chinese student, a German student, a Puerto Rican student, a Ukrainian student, and a Phillippino student. How's that for an incredible team?
2. Learn from the best faculty - When you can wake up in the morning excited for class not one, not five, but ten weeks in a row, the faculty must be doing something right. Each faculty member I've had the pleasure to learn from so far has been obviously passionate about what they do, and want nothing more than to teach you as much as possible. They're willing to meet anytime to discuss lingering questions and more than happy to do whatever you need to make sure you learn.
3. Once in a lifetime guest speakers - Guest speakers are a great way to mix up a class, as they can provide such a unique view to what you're currently learning. (Sorry Professor Dietrich, but I don't think I can include your guest lectures in this category - just kidding! Professor Dietrich guest lectured in one of our classes this year, and we had the opportunity to think critically about some bizarre accounting treatments...there were no right or wrong answers, so we really got to just think. How often can you do that in a class??) We also heard from Jim Leisenring, a member of the Fisher Accounting Hall of Fame and an influential member of the FASB and IASB. Outside of the classroom, there are always events you can attend to listen to speakers...many of them include a free lunch too! I was able to listen to Donald Kimble, CFO of Huntington Bank, talk a little about how the current economic environment has affected a regional bank. His insight and talk of the future truly was fascinating.
4. Participate in great extracurriculars - If you read my blog posts regularly (thank you!), you'll remember some of the posts I've done relating to this topic. My personal favorite this quarter had to be the MAcc intramural flag football team. Return of the MAcc was so much fun, and I got to develop some new friendships with some of my classmates. There are so many other great extracurriculars, such as the FETCH service program (teaching financial responsibility to younger kids), the VITA program which will happen this winter, and weekly Event of the Weeks. If the academics haven't convinced you Fisher is the right choice, these definitely should.
This really was a great 10 weeks and I'm sad to see it come to an end. On the plus side, I'll get to experience brand new courses and faculty, work with new groups, and participate in even more extracurriculars in just a few weeks. And it does feel good to have a quarter under my belt!