Fall Classes - Part II

When last I discussed my fall classes, I wasn’t sure if I had gotten into the academic program that I had wanted to. Now, I’ve just finished my first class and so far so good. As a bonus, because I’m the wife of a CGA student and an employee and daughter-in-law of a CGA, I’m already pretty familiar with the jargon of the Financial Accounting course that I’m taking. On the downside, the textbooks that my husband used are now obsolete (after only 2 years!) and I’ll have to buy the new edition so I can do my assignments.

The professor seems very nice and very willing to help anyone who is slightly confused. He definitely knows his stuff very well and teaches one of the auditing classes in the CGA program. As a teacher, I could give him a few pointers on how to spice up class a bit (lets start by occasionally turning to talk to the right half of the classroom and then we can move on to increasing the efficiency of our overhead usage). But, he’s fairly clear with his explanations, has a good number of examples, and has a logical presentation pattern, all of which work well for my learning methods.

I’m very thankful that this course seems to be an even more basic version of the one my husband took a couple of years ago. I’m also thankful that I’ve got people whom I can talk to about the course content when I need help or clarification. I’m also thankful for the regular assignments, because I know they will keep me more on track and I’ll ultimately learn the material much better. I’m also thankful that the exams are not cumulative.

The parts that irk me the most are two minor details. The textbook purchase is annoying, but part of academic life. Been there, done that, and used to the lousy sell back options. The other minor irksome detail is the strong recommendation to use pencil. I know a pencil makes total sense when doing calculations, etc. But I am a pen person. Ever since grade 4 when we made that crucial switch, I’ve been in love with the depth and variety available in ink-based writing products. I find pencils lack crispness and are bothersome with their need to be sharpened, not to mention messy and smudgy! But, I’m glad that this is one of the only irksome details. If using a pencil is one of the biggest complaints for me, I can totally live with that!