Closing out and gearing up

I can't believe I haven't posted since our last class... but then again, mix in finals, holidays and out of state travels to the in laws, and you can see that life has been quite busy.

I can't believe I've completed Semester 1 out of 6. It was a success- I made the grades I wanted, and am so thrilled with my experience thus far. I've tried to take some time to reflect on what theme I would give to this semester, and I think I would give the title "Dream". Over this semester I've opened my eyes to new opportunities as well as new ways of thinking. Even this week, as I prepare for an annual event at work, I feel so much more prepared on how I want to guide our marketing efforts related to the event. I also caught myself driving to work today and questioning the branding strategies of a billboard I saw on the drive. As for Economics, I'm already taking what I learned there and am applying the concepts to the leveling text as I head into accounting. As I'm reading about cash flows and noncash assets, I'm titling items into capital, labor, and land (& Entrepreneurship). Lastly, we had our leadership class. I felt that class fit me like a glove. At first I had to make the conscious decision to really dive into the framework Dr. Christian provided. It was a little different as he graded from a rubric and not number grades. However, this challenged me to new personal bests. And, perhaps for the first time in a long time, I took a personal look at myself, and asked "If I am the best at who I am meant to be- what does that look like?" No longer aiming at goals or forcing myself into a mold that wasn't fit for me... I'm deciding what God's plan is for my life, and going to try to do that to the best of my abilities. For me this became a personal mantra to be more, rather than to do more. To focus more on the person I am rather than the outcomes I produce. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the next five semesters.

So coming up, we have Accounting, Critical Thinking and Organizational Behavior and Change. I'm working the most to prepare for Accounting, as I have never had an Accounting course. I am reading the leveling text provided by the Ivy Software. Chapter 3 has required me to spend some time in understanding Debits/ Credits and Assets, Liabilities and Owner's Equity. I started reading last night about Cash Flows... this has a lot of new terminology for me, just in the fact that I have dedicated my career to non-profit work and "profit" and anything related to making money, just doesn't have a point of reference. I'm so glad that a few short months from now, I'll be standing on the other side of this mountain, and feel great about what all I will know about Accounting.

Well, Happy New Year to all, and I'll post again next week as we head into Semester II!