Legos in college?

We're studying Process Selection and Facility Layout in Operations Management and yesterday we got to build with Legos! It really was a useful exercise that gave us hands-on practice with Cycle Times, Line Balancing, Precedence Diagrams, and, of course, teamwork. In teams of four, first we built the plane (pictured here) and took it apart a couple of times. Then we created a list of steps and put it into a precedence diagram so we knew what parts preceded which other parts. (This was a LOT harder than I thought!) We timed each step (on average it takes 3 seconds to pick up two Lego pieces and put them together). Prof gave us a cycle time of 25 seconds (this would be the station that took the longest time) and we assigned steps to each station based on the cycle time. This is called "balancing the line." We each took a station and sorted out the parts we each were responsible for. Although I insisted we needed to be sent to Las Vegas for a week of training, the prof wouldn't go for it and made us implement the line anyway. Dry run of the entire process showed that we hadn't quite balanced the line efficiently because two of the stations had too much idle time. Adjustments were made. Then each team was timed with winning team rewarded with leftover Christmas candy. We didn't win, but then we didn't lose, either. And we actually LEARNED something. Imagine that!

The carnage was minimal

Well, it all turned out pretty good for a first semester in upper division classes! It was pretty stressful waiting for grades at the end, but with a couple of "curved" classes, I was able to hang onto a fairly decent GPA.

I'm not sure how I feel about grade curves, even though they have worked in my favor more than once. It's not something I completely understand, but it seems as though college professors (at least some of them) are quite enamored of the infamous normal distribution "bell curve" and are likely encouraged (by their departments, maybe?) to normalize the final grades to fit it. However, it just doesn't feel right to me. Those who earned the highest grades should be rewarded, yet, in a curve, their grades are "normalized" down. Of course no one in "A" territory is in any danger of getting a lower grade, but those of us who either screwed up an exam or two (me!), or just got lazy at some point during the semester (not me), shouldn't really be allowed to get the same grade as those who worked the hardest. (Here's a prof who agrees!)

Maybe it's best not to fight the system, though, especially when some grades are awfully subjective to begin with. Projects that don't have "right" or "wrong" answers are pretty hard to grade, I would imagine. Rubrics are used - and often published along with the project description - so we know exactly the items that need to be present in a paper or presentation, but it's still a subjective exercise by the prof or grader(s) to decide how well we hit or missed those specific targets.

In any case, I'm ecstatic with how my grade sheet turned out for the semester, but hardly have time to enjoy it as Winter Session started just two days after my final exam! Operations Management is the class I'm in now. It covers things like forecasting, supply chain management, inventory, facility layout, productivity, and capacity. Taught by a PhD student who is somewhat making it up as he goes along! Only 14 students in class so there is a lot of interaction and the concepts aren't all that new to me. There is a lot to fit into the 14 days of class, but I love the opportunity to focus on just the one subject.

I'm only enrolled in two courses for Spring semester: Intermediate Financial Accounting (Part 2), and Business Communications. A year ago I assumed the Bus. Comm. class would be a slam dunk because it looked that way in the course catalog. Spent most of my secretarial career communicating in a myriad of ways for the Grounds Department - writing memos, conducting small training sessions, coordinating events, contacting vendors, etc. But I got wind of how convoluted they made this course for the incoming Eller students and dropped it from my Fall schedule so I could concentrate on Accounting. Can't put it off forever, however, and it isn't offered in the abbreviated semesters (winter or summer) so I do have to endure the case competition and other busywork things that are fine and dandy for the kids but seem like overkill to us older students! Group projects and presentations, here I come!

Spring will be a light semester due to my commitment at H&R Block - I'm scheduled around 15 hours a week there. New semester starts just one day after Winter Session ends so there's truly no rest for the wicked!

Chester was right!

Golf class was entirely on the driving range and practice areas, just like my nephew predicted.

I'm just a whisker away from the end of Fall Semester 2009 (yippee!) but before I bury my nose in my accounting book (for the next 9 days before final exam), I want to recount my experience in Golf class.

Golf started midway through the semester, being just a 1-credit course. Met twice a week at 9:00 a.m. for about an hour, sometimes longer. Two groups of 16 students met simultaneously along with two PGA pros (Peter Federhar and Bill Hird). When I initially saw the roster for "my" class, I was the only "girl" on the list! I panicked a little and emailed the UA prof in charge but he assured me the class was geared toward the beginning golfer and that I likely wouldn't find myself so out of place once it got started.

He, too, was right! A lot of the students had never played before. The first day I was plenty early at Randolph golf course and waited apprehensively as the group trickled in... all guys. Then, at the last minute, coming from the other direction, I was relieved to see another female student who had biked from campus and had misjudged the distance so was just a few minutes late. We latched onto each other and became fast friends. Shawna* asked me if I knew of a bus line that ran from campus to the golf course because it was just too far to bike. Well, I didn't, but it didn't matter because I wasn't about to let her do that when I could just swing by campus - only a little out of my way - and pick her up. She is just a freshman and must be the luckiest girl on campus because the class is so popular it usually fills up within minutes of open registration. I didn't even know the class existed until my sophomore year and only got in on my third attempt!

We spent the first two days just putting on the practice greens. Turns out, all golf strokes are built around the same motion so it's a good idea to get it right on the putting green before you move to the bigger swings. After that we moved to mats on the driving range and worked our way from chipping to pitching to driving as the weeks evolved. Finally we left the mats and learned how different it was driving off the grass. Two buckets of balls was the standard daily requirement (around 120 total swings) and Pete and Bill would make their way through the group to give individual instruction. I was amazed at how helpful their suggestions were. Seemed like each thing they told us to do worked like magic and we continued to improve every day.

Besides the swing instruction, they gave us tips on how to "look" like we weren't beginners when playing with peers or eventual bosses, and how to keep the game moving and not be the one slowing everyone down. They also went through some of the golf etiquette and how not to annoy your fellow players on the greens!

We were to bring our own clubs if we had some and my old second-hand set elicited some chuckles from Bill and Pete. "Ah, I see we have some clubs from the dark ages!" But they encouraged me to use them while we were just learning. After a few weeks Pete produced a newer ladies 7-iron and explained everything that was different between the new technology and my old stuff. After just a few swings, I could really tell the difference so I asked where I could find me a nice starter set. They recommended not going to the expense of getting "fitted" because I'm just a beginner and don't know yet what kinds of clubs are out there and what my preferences might be. I was able to find a really nice used set called Precise for just under $100 at the Golf Exchange store. Pete recommended the place because if I didn't like one or more of the clubs, they would exchange them, unlike the golf stores featuring brand new clubs.

Just before Thanksgiving we had a "bunker day" and learned how to get out of the sand traps (or at least learned how you're *supposed* to do it!). And then the final two days of golfing were spent in a practice area that has four separate greens fanned out from the same tee box area at different distances (around 47 yards up to 160 - all par 3 holes). We divided up into groups of 5 or 6 and played a scramble to each of the greens. Fortunately with a scramble, you all get to hit a drive shot, but then everyone moves their ball to the place where the best shot landed and everyone continues from there. That sure speeds things up and still gives you the feeling of a golf game.

The "final exam" was a written test for which we were given a review sheet with about double the information on it. A little memorization was all it took. I wish all my finals were exactly like that one!

So, all in all I feel like I improved a great deal (and so did my hubby because I would come home and give him all the same pointers!) and can actually not look like an idiot if I'm ever in a position to play with a group. It's good exercise and great fun (when your swing is good - and okay fun when its not!) and in a pleasant setting. I'm going to have to find time to keep it up, though, because they said we would notice a big difference if we lapsed even two weeks between practice driving. Now that I know about the 4-hole practice area, we can try to get there once a week or so. The regular driving range is good, too, but those $7 buckets of balls can add up fast!

*Not her real name.

Well, that was weird

Two exams in one day and I did better on the one I studied LESS for! The Management exam was a bit easier than I expected - there was a LOT of content in those five chapters and the exam could have been a lot harder, so I'm very happy with my grade.

The Accounting exam was about what I expected in terms of content and I even had time to FINISH and recheck several answers. But, while I earned an improvement over my grade on the first accounting exam, I sure didn't do as well as I expected. Sigh. I'll visit the professor next week to see if I made some stupid errors or exactly where things went wrong.

All things considered, though, when examining the two aspects of my accounting class, I'm getting a solid A in the quizzes and in-class activities and that is very encouraging. It is only the exams that are bringing my grade down. So maybe the exams are set up to be that much more difficult...? Anyway, just 34 more calendar days and I think I can escape with a C. I can certainly live with that! What is it they say? "Survive and advance!"

Big test comin' up

Been studying VERY HARD for the last 8 days getting all the various accounting concepts of revenue recognition and inventory valuation clear in my head. Took the practice exam about an hour ago without books or notes and got everything RIGHT except a couple of journal entries! ALL my numbers were right and I finished just 5 minutes over the designated time. Whew! Now if I can just manage to NOT look like this little guy on test day!

I can do this... I think

Confidence is such a nebulous thing - you can't lay claim to it or it will slip away like the morning haze. If you haven't guessed, this semester has been a rough one for me! My summer jaunt into upper division college courses proved to be atypical. And my mostly marvelous success with lower division courses was fun, but fleeting. This stuff is difficult, and it takes focus, and sometimes even that and hard work ain't enough.

Management and Marketing classes are fairly routine and I can keep up as long as I do the readings and spend time really focusing before an exam. Attending class regularly and taking good notes is certainly a key component and I'm glad I was already in that habit. Most of the concepts are familiar and anything new is relatively easy to grasp (and sometimes easy to identify on a test!). At this, the midpoint of the semester, an A in both classes is still reachable (although I've gotten B's on the tests so far).

Financial Accounting, however, is another story. I'm struggling. More than usual, I mean. I'm very frustrated and a little lost and don't know where to go to get my confidence back. I'm just going to have to keep struggling and fighting to get this stuff into my muddled brain.

Went through a couple of weeks where I nearly felt like quitting. It is hard to separate my self-worth from my schooling, after all, this is what I do and I'm used to being good at what I do. In fact, I'm good at a whole lot of things - just not Financial Accounting! The old test anxieties rear their ugly heads and sometimes I can't beat them back long enough to focus on the questions. It doesn't help that all tests are designed to make us rushed for time.

Their justification for this need for speed is that when we are accountants our hours will be billable and we won't have the luxury of being leisurely about our work. I suppose that's true, but when you're just learning the material, it sure feels punitive. And it doesn't help that several students do seem to get it and fly through the tests while the rest of us struggle! I'm certainly not alone, and that helps - a little. My first bad exam grade was typical of almost 40% of the class. But it just wasn't what I'm used to achieving. I can still get a B in the class, but only if I do a whole lot better on exams 2 and 3 than I did on exam 1. To move on to the next level next semester I only need a C in the class, and I might have to be happy with that. It isn't uncommon for accounting students to repeat this class, but I'd sure rather not go there.

However, one of the brighter events of this semester is that I finally have FRIENDS! No, the whole highly-touted cohort thing has mostly been a bust but, thanks to the two upper division classes I took last summer, I've made a couple of very good friends with whom to commiserate and occasionally study. They're close to my age and are both majoring in accounting. We share most of the same struggles either in accounting or the other classes. We share textbooks, when one of us has completed a class the other is just starting, and we also share experiences and advice when we're contemplating next semester's schedule. One has a young family (of teenagers!) and the other is caring for an elderly parent, so that adds depth to the relationship you just don't get from 19-22 year olds!

So I will make it through this semester. And I won't tie my self-worth to my grades! The one saving grace is that I am pretty sure the things I'm struggling with are associated mostly with public accounting (those big companies who sell stock) and not the mom-and-pop private businesses I hope to work with in my career after college. I can do just 53 more days! And then it's on to next semester, which will also be a struggle. But at least it will be a familiar one!

See, I told you so!

I was feeling a little guilty about being a grade snob, but received clear confirmation of its significance during my first day of upper division classes. In our packed Intermediate Accounting class yesterday, the prof congratulated us on making the cut. Seems there were around 120 applicants for the 105 spaces available in the Accounting major and, while the department sets 2.75 GPA as the minimum for admission consideration, the prof said they were cutting students who had as high as 3.1 GPA who also did well on the interview and entrance exam. I know my interview score was good but I barely passed the entrance exam (par, for me!), so having a good GPA was critical. Whew.

Some other interesting tidbits learned at the Cohort Orientation yesterday evening: Of the 450 incoming business students (including all majors), the average GPA is 3.46, which is higher than previous years. Most popular majors: Accounting, Finance, and Marketing. Class breakdown: 54% male, 46% female. And 4.2% are from other countries.

Ready or not, here comes Fall!

Well, it has been a relatively uneventful summer, but a productive one. Made it through with my GPA intact and learned some interesting stuff along the way. Got a bit of a scare in the Cost Accounting class - enough that I think I'm more mentally prepared for the Fall semester than I would have been otherwise. That scare caused me to drop the Art History class so I could focus on MIS, just in case it was as intense as accounting. It wasn't, but that gave me a nice break anyway. I'll pick up the Art credits some other summer.

One interesting event in MIS 304 is I met a fellow accounting student who is OLDER than me! (And I didn't think that was possible! Ha!) She is a semester ahead of me right now but is also working full time and only taking a class or two at a time so by Christmas we'll be "even" and by next summer I'll probably be ahead of her so we likely won't have any more classes together. It's just nice to know I'm not quite as alone as I thought. She's generously loaning me textbooks for several non-accounting classes she has already taken. I'll buy my own accounting textbooks since I intend to keep them, but the rest will come in real handy.

As of now I'm enrolled in four Fall classes, but I fully intend to drop one and just stick with three. (Haven't dropped the Business Communications class yet because I want to get my hands on the syllabus to have a better idea what the requirements will be when I *do* take it.) I really feel I can do so much better with only three subjects at a time. And all three happen to be Monday/Wednesday classes. Eller doesn't schedule anything on Fridays but I've heard it is a popular day for "group meetings" for the classes that have group assignments. That will leave me Tuesdays and Thursdays at home for homework. I like that a lot.

I'm also registered for the 1-credit Golf class but it doesn't start until October and will be just a couple hours on Tuesday/Thursday mornings. I hope by that time I'm in enough of a routine with the other classes that it won't interfere. In fact, it will probably prove to be a nice diversion.

So, starting next Monday I'll have nearly four solid hours of class in the morning and then repeat it again on Wednesday. Intermediate Accounting, Marketing, and Management. Same professor for Accounting as I had during the summer - she's tough but good. I'm excited and hope to learn a lot!

Finishing strong

There's just no feeling like it! I struggled with some of the concepts midway through Cost Accounting class and faltered on two of the three mid-term exams... pretty badly. Three moderately complex homework assignments and two case studies mostly involved spreadsheets and memos - my forte. On those you generally get a grade that matches the effort you put in, so I made sure to do a good job - which helped balance the bad exam grades. However, going into the final exam, I knew I needed 94 points out of 100 to pull out an A in the class. My average on exams to that point was just 85! And the final covered 5 chapters, not the usual 3 or 4.

I got 96! Whew! More importantly, though, while studying for the final, some things began to click into place in my brain and suddenly I saw things a lot more clearly - it started making real sense and the logic was clearer than it had been all summer. Sort of like learning a foreign language - there comes a point where, instead of your brain blowing a fuse trying to manually translate every word into English, you suddenly begin comprehending the foreign words. It's a floating sensation - or at least it was for me when I learned French in my early twenties. For months you feel like you're drowning but you wake up one day and it's almost like they're all talking English. Like you've made a connection to a new part of your brain that speaks French.

It's probably too early to tell if that happened for me with accounting this week, but it sure gives me greater confidence as I move into my first upper division semester in August. I feel so much better about all the stuff that seemed like a foreign language just a week ago. I think I'll be okay!

Change is good, I guess!

Some things are "over" now, I can tell. My Cost Accounting class is evidence that my brain had better be fully engaged for the rest of my academic career. So the first thing that is over is easy classes! While I was in them, none of my classes seemed easy but, I admit, on Finals day when I knew I had done enough work to make the final exam irrelevant (or nearly so) for those 100-level and 200-level classes, I knew they'd been relatively easy for me. I'm looking forward to the challenge of 300- and 400-level classes, but I'm more than a little nervous I can't keep up.

Another thing that's over is the struggle to get the classes I want at registration time. Fortunately Eller pre-registers their students according to the cohort (mornings or afternoons) so the huge headache of spending hours of planning a workable schedule is done! I had learned to have a plan, a backup plan, and a list of fill-in classes in case neither panned out. I also learned to have two computers logged into WebReg at once to help with the inevitable logjam at the server side. Thank goodness that's over!

For the most part I expect my leisure time to be majorly cut back. Taking FOUR hard classes in one semester will dictate that. I've gotten pretty good at budgeting my time and hammering away at whatever is required - homework, reading, writing, memorizing... Could have done better, of course. My hubby has been fantastically understanding when the house is a little wrecked and/or the dishes not done cuz I'm up against a deadline. Fortunately he preceded me in this 'ejucayshon' stuff and knows how much hammering it takes! (And he's an excellent cook! :-)

Internet surfing just for the heck of it is mainly a thing of the past, too. Most of my "computer time" is strictly homework related. A little Lexulous now and then, and checking to see what everyone is up to on Facebook once a day or so... that's about it! (Oh, and the blog, when I can manage it!) Grocery shopping hasn't changed all that much, but I tend to buy more now (fruit especially) to try and cut down those time-eating errands to just once or twice a week. Morning yoga and some evening exercise has to stay, though. Gotta find a way to keep that consistent.

I hope I can keep up! August 24th will be here before I know it.

My "free" education!

Five classes, seven textbooks and this is the bill for my upcoming Fall semester if I were to purchase everything at the UA Bookstore! I usually don't. Half.ebay.com is a great resource, and sometimes other websites. Fortunately I've already found two of the seven for nearly half the used price listed, but a couple I will probably end up getting at the Bookstore as they often require the accompanying CD or internet code. Whenever it says "textbook bundle", I at least have to go in and see what all is in the bundle. Oh, and they almost never have books available at the "used" price.

If I had to pay for tuition on top of that... yikes! So, I'm not griping.

And that takes care of my freshman year!

Just wrapped up my last "101" class (Physical Geography) so, now that I'm a Junior, I'm officially done with my freshman classes! Of course I've taken most of the sophomore ones, too, along the way, but it is strange how they all get interspersed. We even had a couple of graduated seniors in there! So at least I didn't wait that long.

Years ago when I would discuss college with peers, someone would always say, "Yeah, but you've got to get all those general education classes out of the way before you even get to the ones in your major." And they would wrinkle their nose like it was the worst thing they could imagine. Turns out, "those gen-eds" are the REALLY FUN classes and I'm sorry to be done with them!

Still have one sophomore (200 level) science class to take - probably next summer - and could probably fit in a couple of non-accounting electives at some point but I've already decided, when I've got my degree in my back pocket, THESE are the classes I'll keep coming back to take again and again ...just for fun! ...until I'm 90!

Oh, speaking of which... The obligatory article in our local newspaper regarding the lucky kids who graduated last month had an age breakdown of those getting bachelors degrees. Of the 4,200 or so being awarded degrees, 1% were age 50 or older! Woohoo! So I'm not as alone as it appears when I look around the classroom. In fact, if I can do my math correctly (and I did pass college algebra!), there were at least 42 of us oldies kicking around campus just last year.

In my Business Ethics online class the get-acquainted emails indicate there are three of us over 50 in that course. But I always knew that community college is where I'd find more peers - not that it really matters. What I am looking forward to next semester is rubbing elbows with the kids who are a little more serious about their education. I'll let you know how that is.

Summer is shaping up

Well, my Spring Semester is coming to a close. Sorry I haven't kept y'all up to date so much this semester! It was a successful one and I also managed to keep regular hours at my part-time job with H&R Block. Fun seeing most of my old clients - it's my eighth season so I'm starting to see a lot of regulars. I like that.

Anyhow, here's how Summer School is shaping up:

Summer Pre-Session (mid-May to early June):

Earth's Environment: Intro to Physical Geography - Introduction to fundamental laws of nature as expressed physical processes that govern the spatial distribution of Earth's land, sea, air, and biological environments. Focus on fluxes and feedbacks among these systems, and interactions with humans. (This will finish off my Tier One Natural Sciences requirement.)

First Summer Session (mid-June thru mid-July):

Cost and Managerial Accounting - Concepts and analytical procedures necessary in the generation of accounting data for management planning control.

Spreading throughout both those UA semesters is a Pima Community College course in Business Ethics (taken online).

And two classes in the Second Summer Session (mid-July to mid-August):

Using and Managing Information Systems - Ways that organizations improve their business practices through the use of computer technology. Course emphasizes systems technologies, enterprise integration, business applications, and critical analysis of organizational change through information systems.

Introduction to Prehispanic, Hispanic, and Chicano Art - Survey of the native, prehispanic arts of Meso; Central and South America; art since the conquest of Mexico, Central and South America; and Hispanic Arts of the Southwest and contemporary Chicano art. (This will fulfill my Tier Two Arts requirement.) Sounds very interesting, plus it only meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays! All the other summer classes meet every day.

The Accounting and MIS classes will serve to dilute my Fall and Spring semesters to just FOUR classes instead of FIVE. I just can't do five at once!

Oh, and an update on GOLF. They cancelled my summer Golf class (budget cuts, no doubt) but I was able to sneak into one of the previously full Fall Semester classes (by checking the web registration EVERY DAY until finally spotting an opening!). So golf will not happen until October. The weather is better then anyway!

Sadly, too true!

Overwhelming is right!

The new Accounting Majors gathered yesterday evening for their official Welcome Session. Looked to be approximately 100 of us. Very competitive entry this year, or so they said. It didn't appear to be what they tell ALL the classes, but you can never be sure. Said they had more than the usual requests for Accounting this semester, which is interesting. When requesting admission I had to pick my first, second, and third choice of majors - which was difficult because there was such a steep drop off after the first choice. I'm imagining there are a few - or many - students (and their parents!) faced with deciding whether to stay in their second choice of major or try for accounting again next semester. I don't envy them.

During the session they showed us what our next four semesters are likely to look like and here is a list of the classes:

Acct 310 Cost & Managerial Accounting
Acct 400A Intermediate Financial Accounting I
Acct 400B Intermediate Financial Accounting II
Acct 451 Analysis of Financial Statements
Acct 461 Accounting Information Systems
BNAD 314R Business Communication
Econ 300 Microeconomic Analysis for Business Decisions
Econ 330 Macroeconomic Institutions & Policy
FIN 360 Quantitative Financial Management
Mgmt 310A Organization Behavior & Management
Mgmt 402 Integrating Business Fundamentals with Ethics & Law in Management
MIS 304 Using and Managing Information Systems
MIS 373 Basic Operations Management
Mktg 361 Introduction to Marketing
Plus two more Accounting electives

Yikes! You'll think I'm nuts, but they all look really interesting and I can't wait to get started. Planning to take Acct 310 and MIS 304 this summer. I'm already sure one of my electives will be Acct 420 Introduction to Federal Taxation since I already know some of it.

One thing I like is the emphasis they place on the cohort system. During admission we had to choose a morning or afternoon cohort (mornings, please!) and thereafter they will place us with the same group throughout our academic career. They explained that they want students to feel a sense of community - not just attend class, get our degree, and leave.

It's partly due to the age differential and partly my own fault that I haven't really established a sense of community so far, so I'm looking forward to this forced/coerced version that will do some of the work for me!

About half the room raised their hands when asked if they were interested in becoming a CPA. I wasn't one of them, but I'll keep my options open and see what transpires in the next two years to change my mind. At my age and stage of career, it doesn't seem worth the extra time and effort with respect to its value, but I might decide differently later on.

Eller College is also well known for their Entrepreneurship Program which could be similar to a minor for us Accounting majors. That would unfold during Fall 2010 for me, if I decided to go that route. We aren't required to choose a minor and I hadn't intended on it, but I do want to learn more about the program.

So I have a full calendar for the next couple of years! Let's get started already!

Fear is a great motivator!

Nearly everyone who reads this blog knows I got into Eller College and am officially an Accounting Major. Now the hard classes begin! I'm hoping to get started this summer so I won't have to take five classes in the Fall semester (this old brain can't juggle that many at once!), but first I have to attend the Accounting Orientation session next week. I'm curious how many other Accounting majors there are.

Oh, the fear part? Since I am now a Business junior, I get to enroll in classes that are restricted to students in the business college. Meaning the upper division accounting stuff, of course, but also one called PE 219, aka, GOLF! Yup they have a 1-credit course called Golf, and I'm enrolled for the Summer Presession. There are only 16 spots available so I was lucky to get in. It meets an hour and forty minutes every day for three weeks.

Golf starts on May 18 so I have only 58 days to get into golf shape. I'm afraid I've let my exercise and yoga routines lapse a little the last year or so. Other than walking to class from an outlying parking lot four times a week, and riding bikes some weekends, I haven't done much else in the way of exercise. Now I'm motivated, and then some!

I don't expect to keep up with the young-uns, but I just don't want to hold them back due to being out of shape. So I'm walking and/or doing the treadmill half an hour a day (will gradually increase that), doing yoga to get my muscles and joints stretched, and will probably add some weights for upper body strength as the time gets closer.

From what I've read in a few articles on the internet, the class takes all comers, even those with no prior experience. I've played a little with my hubby over the years, but consider myself a newby since I can't even hit a drive consistently. So hopefully I'll learn how to swing and a few other things about the game. Look out Lorena Ochoa!! ;-)

Well, that was fun!

Had my big Eller College admission interview today and here's some of what I remember. (Hey, it's been a whole seven hours - you can't expect me to remember EVERYTHING!)

Today was the final of three steps in the process - the first two happened weeks ago: a large group orientation session where they explained all the steps, and an individual advising appointment to give it that personal touch. Right away after the orientation I hopped on the computer and snagged an early advising appt that, I believe, gave me the "choice" mid-day interview time today.

In the value system of 20-somethings, having to be ANYWHERE before 11am is a form of punishment, so I'm sure my fellow classmates were ecstatic with their 11:35 time slot. I'd have been just as content with an earlier time. When you hit the ground running at 5am as we do at our house, six hours is way too much time to think!

I dutifully arrived around 20 minutes early and found the halls crowded with black-suited students! Looked a lot like a funeral! I'd opted for a demure forest green jacket and skirt set and found myself pert-near the only one who deviated from the "standard!" Of course there was the occasional glitter-spiked heel to break up the monotony, and a few dark grays and browns. But all in all, they cleaned up pretty nice.

My interview was with a nice young kid who just got his degree in Finance (probably a masters) and an older gentleman from the community. I didn't catch either of their names, but probably wouldn't post them here anyway. They were friendly and made me feel comfortable right way.

They started by asking me for my 60-second "elevator" spiel (shucks, I hadn't really prepared one and it probably showed!). They asked if there was anything on my resume that I wished to highlight, then they spent the next few moments apologizing for having to ask me the same "canned" questions they were told to ask everyone! I didn't mind, but maybe to them the questions seemed stilted for an older candidate.

The ones I remember best include:
- Describe a problem that you have encountered at work or in your personal life where you have had to think "out of the box" to come to a solution.
- Describe an issue currently in the news that interests you, and why.
- When working in a team that isn't working well together, how would you motivate your teammates to get back on track?
- Describe a difficult project you took on and how you accomplished it.
- Think of a time when you made a bad judgment call and describe what you learned from the experience.
And two ethics questions on the Interview Case they gave us to read at the orientation session involving the utility/legality of businesses using social networking sites (like Facebook) as part of their screening process.

I tried to answer truthfully and with enthusiasm. There were maybe 10 total questions plus some interesting discussion regarding the housing crisis (my choice of current news item). I was their last (of six) interview so we chatted a bit after the time's-up knock on the door. We conversed about tax returns and the lack of state regulation over mortgage brokers and how businesses have been operating on credit for so long. They also assured me I likely would do fine in the upper division accounting curriculum.

Working 28 years for the same department didn't give me much opportunity for meaningful interviews so I'm relieved it went so well. As each interview concluded, students were herded into a room where they took our photographs (no idea why!), and then we all traipsed into the large auditorium for the skills assessment test. Twenty somewhat easy accounting-type test questions on which we need to score 75% or higher. Pretty sure I did okay.

Decisions are to be emailed in about two weeks. I'll let you know!

New kitty, new semester

Whew, glad that's over with! Just finished my third shot at an accelerated semester (or is it my fourth?) and it sure doesn't get easier with practice. Managerial Accounting was VERY interesting, though, and definitely right up my alley (as they say!). Turns out I've done this stuff for years as a secretary without truly knowing how or what I was doing. But now it all is starting to make sense... Budgets, incremental analysis, present values, price-to-earnings ratios, etc.

Had a great teacher and probably the most attentive fellow students to date. Both those ingredients really help with focusing when we're covering a whole chapter every day. Either you "get it" or you don't because tomorrow we're on to the next chapter. Sheesh! At least 8 people out of my 50 classmates were taking it for the second time so they either failed it the first or tried again to get a better grade (they call that Grade Replacement Opportunity, and I hope I never have to use it!).

And on the home front is a darling new kitty (Puma) who is wearing the heck out of our other "baby" Oliver. They're about a year apart in age and just tear around and play all day (when they're not sleeping or eating, of course!). Here's some pics:


And Thursday I start my Spring Semester! (Deep breath)