Three Things I Miss In Life

For those of you who have read my “about me” page, you already have discovered that I made the exciting transition to a Big 4 accounting firm not too long ago. To say that the adjustment from life in college to working at a Big 4 has been a minor one is a major understatement. I wish I could say that most of my time in college was spent enjoying life, but I was too wrapped around making that A grade and chasing that next prestigious internship. Even still, I’d like to believe I had more time then for my own life than I do now.

Nowadays, my mornings, afternoons, and more often than not, nights are taken up by work related activities. If it’s not waking up at 6:50 a.m. to get to work by 8:30 a.m., it’s waking up at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday to drive an hour or two only to arrive at a warehouse to perform, you guessed it, work related duties. Even if my day ends at 5:30 p.m., much of what is left of the day is spent studying for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination or CPA. Unlike the typical approach people usually take in college classes, I’ve never heard of anyone cramming for the CPA and passing all four parts at once. The CPA is a somewhat lengthy process and involves demonstrating understanding of accounting-related material on a high level. I’ve taken two sections - regulation and financial. Fortunately enough, I’ve passed regulation. But I am still waiting on the results for financial. In the meantime, I’ve started on studying on my third section, BEC (business environment concepts), which I plan to take early next year. Though I prefer to make my own luck, it wouldn’t hurt if you wished me luck!

I await the day; I pass my CPA exams and develop thick skin for the amount of hours I am putting in to this seemingly underpaid job. Until then, I can ponder about the activities I’d rather be involved in.

This is a list of the top three activities (in no particular order) I would rather be immersed in:

1. Driving golf balls down the fairway at the local country club

I haven’t held a golf club in about two months, but it feels like six. After spending much of this summer working on my game, it’s upsetting that I could very well be extremely rusty. My dreams of turning pro have been washed away - only half joking.

2. Curling forty pound dumbbells and benching my weight plus a hundred pounds

Gym hasn’t been in my vocabulary for what seems like six months now. I’ve lost about what feels like ten pounds of muscle mass. Sitting all day doesn’t help me feel any better about my health either. But, I have to say that I’ve been able to find thirty minutes after work to swim laps in the swimming pool.

3. Meeting genuine people in college.

When I was in college, I thought that I’d rather be in high school. Now that I am at work, I tell myself that I’d rather be in college. It seems to me as a “community” at each “progressing stage” we drift further and further apart from each other. I’ve never been extremely close with anyone in high school, but still I found it more possible in high school to build a connection with someone than in college. Now at work, I feel like I missed the boat when I didn’t do that in college. It could still be possible, but mixing life and work could be tricky. But, like Jennifer Aniston said during an interview for her movie, Love Happens, “Love brings up anything unlike itself! [It’s important] being open to it and being open to what form it comes in, what package it’s delivered to you in…”