3 Steps to Building Your Own Path
Building Your Own Path: Becoming Future-Oriented, Self-Reliant, and Free from Comparison
Being in the MAcc program offers so many positive incentives for your future. It’s the launchpad into a career you’ve worked hard to build, filled with opportunities that extend far beyond the walls of Fisher. But here’s the truth no one can teach you in a classroom: it’s only what you put into it. No degree, no internship, no job offer can define your success unless you’re the one driving it forward.
In a fast-paced program like ours, it’s easy to glance sideways. Who landed an offer already? Who seems to have it all figured out? Who’s balancing five things at once like it’s nothing? But comparison is one of the fastest ways to lose sight of what matters—your own journey! If you want to create a future that’s sustainable, fulfilling, and uniquely yours, it starts with being future-oriented, self-reliant, and letting go of the noise.
1. Future-Orientation: Play the Long Game
It’s easy to get caught up in surviving the next quiz, case study, or interview, but challenge yourself to look beyond today’s task list. What do you want your life to look like 5 years from now? 10 years? The rest of your career?! Being future-oriented isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about understanding the trajectory you’re on and taking small, intentional steps that serve that bigger picture. In the MAcc program, that might look like choosing projects that push you out of your comfort zone, or networking with people whose careers inspire you. Play the long game. Show up for future you.
2. Self-Reliance: Own Your Growth
No one is coming to make sure you succeed—not your professors, not your peers, and not the company who gave you an offer. The people around you can support you, but self-reliance is about learning how to keep moving without needing external validation. Take the initiative. If you’re struggling with a concept, don’t wait for help to find you. Seek it out. If you want more from your experience, create it. The more you take ownership of your path, the more confident and prepared you’ll be when you step into the next chapter. All of this being said, use your resources! Schedule those office hours, make those connections in the program, talk to your support system and nurture your best self!
3. Free from Comparison: Stay in Your Lane
The best part of creating your own future? It’s yours. Comparing your progress to someone else’s is not only exhausting, it’s irrelevant. No two people in this program came here with the same story, and no two people will leave with the same one either. Success looks different on everyone. Focus on what feels meaningful to you, and let that be enough. There’s power in recognizing that you don’t have to outpace anyone else. You just keep moving forward on your own terms.
At the end of the day, the MAcc program is what you make of it. The experience, the connections, the lessons. They’re all tools. But it’s your mindset that decides how far those tools will take you. Keep looking ahead, trust in your ability to grow, and stop worrying about what everyone else is doing. You have everything you need to build a future you’re proud of—now it’s time to go make it happen.
Go Bucks, and keep leading your own way. My path took me here and your path led you to the end of my post, so thank you for reading! My path also took me to a recent hockey game where I got to "meet" our Rose Bowl trophy, as pictured above!
