I did it. I mean, I finished a couple of months ago, in May. But I forgot that I had this draft and thought, well, might as well finish it now. After 2 years in school, I was finally done. Although, it doesn’t feel like I accomplished anything at all. First of all, a quarter of it was done online and it was a struggle. I know I have this pattern where I start off really strong then start to decline in my will to get high marks. And it doesn’t help that I have such high standards for myself when it comes to grades, thank you parents (not really). Second, it was just memorizing stuff and completely forgetting everything after exams. Third, no walking on stage for graduation.
My first term was great. I was getting As – high 80s to 90s. I was very diligent. I deprived myself of youtube and watching movies or reading fiction books because it would mean that I had extra time and that I wasn’t using it to study more. At one point, I even told myself that its okay, maybe just one video and then I could go back to studying. The school I went to was also notorious for “overloading” and students dropping out after the first term/year. Normally, the program I got into could be done within 3 years. But my school could do it in 2 years so I went for it. I was 26 after all. I wanted to finish quickly.
So there I was, getting the results I deserved. During my second term, I was still doing okay in the beginning. I remember just studying a week in advance for midterms so I don’t end up cramming everything in the weekend. And then spring break came and eventually, the first COVID case in British Columbia, Canada. From there, it was just chaotic.
I admit, I was doing so well organizing my schedule – classes from Monday to Friday, and work on the weekends. I did homework and projects days in advance. I bought an iPad to help with taking notes and making it easier and more compact to bring everywhere. I went to coffee shops to be able to focus better (not at home where behind my desk was my bed). It was hard (sorry, first world country problems). But I managed. People might think exams and quizzes were easy but it wasn’t, at least not for my program. We had to add an extension on our devices. It recorded our screens, any noises made in the background, our eye movement, and whether we were out of the vicinity of the camera. It was so terrible because you never know when you’d have faulty internet connections. And apparently, that wasn’t the faculty’s fault. Technically, it is not, but a little consideration would have been nice. Considering everyone was just anxious and the last thing we would want was to get kicked out of the exam because of the internet and being accused of “cheating” therefore invalidating our test results.
It was such a stressful year. I had to take summer classes for 2 courses just to lighten my fall term load. It was a little expensive but worth every hour I didn’t have to worry about them. I appreciated the extra hours of sleep and extra day not having to worry about the exam. Then came May and I was so excited to be done. The last hurdle was Capstone – which I dreaded for a little while but one of my most memorable experiences. We were grouped in teams of 4, randomly shuffled across all business programs (HR, Finance, Accounting). Capstone was only for 5 weeks and it was either you pass or fail. The first case was dropped on the first Tuesday @ 8:30AM. Included in the cases were 4 tasks that we had to submit by 2PM on the same day. Tasks were mixed – they could be asking for reports, audit files, statement of financial positions, cash flows, etc. Then we wouldn’t hear anything until Thursday of the same week where instructors would debrief the case. At 10AM, they would release the grade – Good Response, Acceptable Response, and Requires Revision (which we all don’t want because it would mean we had to revise the tasks that got an RR and send at 1PM). And by 5PM, they would release the 2nd round of grades, and if you still get an RR in any of the tasks, by Friday, you would be meeting with the “boss”. Capstone was like a simulation to what it would look like when we get real jobs so it was good practice. This repeated 4 more times. My anxiety was at an all time high in those 5 weeks. But you know, I obviously passed. My teammates were great, too! We were so cohesive and really helped each other out. I also made forever friends (shoutout to Kay, my rock, my “did you do #3 yet?” and to Sola, the all-knowing excel genius).
I didn’t get to walk on stage or wear my graduation gown because of the pandemic. I did get my diploma in the mail and my graduation cap. After, I applied in the accounting department of my current job. I stayed there for 2 weeks as a junior bookkeeper/accountant. In 2 months, I was presented with a better opportunity (less workload and more pay for a consulting company). Both very different environment – one was chill (like I could wear sweatpants and no one would blink twice) and the other was very professional (I had to buy business clothes because all I had were sweatshirts and sweatpants). I’m still working for this new job (thank god) and I am happy where I am now (although I probably would not settle here). And TBH, my main reason why I went to school was to get better opportunities but I didn’t think about going further after my diploma. I could get my bachelor’s degree authenticated (?forgot the term?) and see if I could get into the CPA program right away (but that’s for another conversation I’m not ready to have yet).
I’m still not sure yet if taking accounting was the best move. But for now, it did get the job done (me wanting to leave my last workplace). So. I guess one step at a time 🙂
Her Secret Diary 