Not Enough Hours in the Day

Week 2 is now over, what a difference to the Bachelor course! I had anticipated that as it was a step up course there would be a higher expectation and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Not sure if I was expecting that high a step up.

ACCT11059 was a breeze in comparison to ACCT20070. The bachelors was definitely a gentle (re)introduction to learning, spreadsheets and the mechanics of accounting. In that unit we were looking at the output produced in a company report and trying to decipher it. In the MPA we’ve dove straight into the first principles, with a simple intro in week 1 & 2 looking at the basics of income statements, statement of changes in equity and the balance sheet. This was a new one for me as it introduced the process of journal entries and the transfer into a T-account. A process that wasn’t introduced in ACCT11059. Once I’d nailed how debits (on the left) and credits (on the right) and which ones were normal debit or credit balances, I was feeling pretty confident and can knock out a journal and ledger along with the financial sheets pretty quick. Then week 3 has happened.

I’m comfortable with the concept of accrual accounting, the process of actually doing it is another thing entirely. I’ve spent the better part of the day trying to work it out and I’d say I have a comfort factor of 50% and rising. I’ve started to wind myself in knots so I’ve stopped for the night on that.

I’m enjoying the challenge that accounting is presenting and the joy when I crack at concept, it’s not all rosy though. Each week our lecturer sends out the solutions to the weeks questions. I was very disappointed to find multiple errors throughout the solutions. A number of emails have gone Monika’s (unit leader) way today to inform her of the issues. Another positive is that we did have a Zoom with Monika that added value, so she knows who we are (Suzy, Lucy and I) and hopefully will be active in supporting us.

Economics, so much reading!! Two chapters each week that are really in-depth and need to have notes taken. This is my first time studying economics, I’m finding it interesting though struggling to think like an economist. I’ve run into a couple of questions where my cynical, practical approach doesn’t match the expectations of the books solution. It’s still early in the course so I’ve plenty of time to learn. I’m understanding the concepts, though trying to answer a question that expects a graph is a bugger. Give me the data and I can plot a graph, no worries. Try and draw one without data, not a hope.

Another plus is that I’ve got two study groups, Lucy and Suzy in accounts and Trevor and Tiff in Economics. L&S have been in active communication and we had a Zoom this morning which was helpful. T&T, bit quiet at the moment, we’ll see how they all go.

With so much reading there’s not much space in the day for much else. It’s late to bed, early to rise and lunchtime spent reading. Fortunately (well not really) I’m still off running for a week or two, so there’s a bit of extra capacity because of that. It is a case of eye on the prize and that first interim award at the end of term 3 and the potential new career, so I think it is definitely worth it.

Leveling Up

And we’re back. It’s officially week 1 of term 2. But for me it’s technically term 1 of a new course. I’ve moved off the Bachelor of Accounting and leveled up to the Master of Professional Accounting (MPA) There’s a bit of a difference.

While doing the two units last term was fun and I achieved good marks, I really have nothing to show for it apart from a bill to pay, some intangible benefits and some new friends. This last point btw is the one I’m most pleased about.

I’ve had my course mapped out so I can pick up interim awards as I progress and my next couple of years looks like this. Not much room to move in this plan. CC57 plan

Fortunately for me, I am currently off work after having my hernia operated on last week. I’ve got until the 23rd to get as far ahead as possible before I got back to office. When I first looked at going onto the MPA I had assumed that it would be a bit tougher with more content and higher expectations. After all, participants are expected to already have a bachelors degree and should know what they’re getting into. I had assumed correctly and as I found yesterday it turns out that there are parts of the MPA that are shared with the MBA.

This week I have made a start and practically completed all the tasks for ACCT20070 and ECON20039. What I have noticed is that though the content isn’t particularly challenging at this stage the volume of reading and activities to go through at the end of each week is considerable. At the end of the first chapter of the accounting text book there are 16 pages of questions to go through. I could take the easy way out and just wait for the answers and then fill in the gaps. Really though, that’s not the way to do things properly. The accounting unit is an introduction, delivered with a very different style, content and expectation to ACCT11059 from the Bachelors. I’m actually quite pleased that I did that first, that unit has given me a decent grounding to get into this one. If it was my first ever unit I would be a bit more concerned.

ECON20039 is interesting. I’ve never studied economics before. Key take outs so far; it’s all about resources and choice and you can only spend money once. There are limited resources and the choice is what to do with the resources available, what output is required. To choose one output over another has an opportunity cost, this cost increases as the output of one of those choices increases at the expense of another. There is also the concept of the Production Possibilities Frontiers, which is a fun thing to get ones head around. There’s also a heap of graphs and other concepts that will no doubt surface as the weeks go on.

What was good about the ACCT11059 unit was the requirement to create this blog and interact. This worked really well for me, so in an attempt to form a study group I looked on Moodle to see where and who the distance students are. I emailed all participants. noting that there are some doing both the units as I am, and waited.

I am now in a little WhatsApp chat/study group with Suzy and Lucy, both MBA students in Rocky and Mackay. They’re both doing ACCT11059 and FINC20018, so we have a shared aim in accounting and for me the inside track on a unit I won’t be attempting until next year. From our chat last night I’m confident that this will be a positive term.

Midway through week 1 I’m happy that I’ve leveled up, I understand the expectations of the MPA and the workload will be greater and that’s OK so

challenge accpeted

Making the grade

Term 1 is officially closed with the release of grades today. I am astounded to say that I did rather well. A HD in both ACCT11059 and LAWS11030. I am really pleased to hear from a number of my fellows that they have achieved good grades as well.

Going to put in here a thank you to Martin Turner, Maria Tyler and Ronald Farran (Law) who have been most excellent in their support, feedback and incredible marking speed this term.

What I am more pleased about is that my daughter Alice, who has just completed her first term at CQU Rockhampton, has achieved three HD’s and a distinction in her Bachelor of Oral Health Therapy degree. She’s done this while being a Resident Associate and dealing with other peoples drama’s. My daughter is amazing. Must take after her mother, who is also amazing.

As for me I have never in any study ever achieved this well. Quite possibly due to a number of factors that are different to my original student days

I’m 45 years old and don’t have the stamina to spend all day in the pub
I’m paying for my education (no course fees in ’90’s UK universities)
I’m “slightly” more mature in my approach to learning
I have an example to set to my children
I want to learn and put the effort in. (I was very lazy the first time)
I LISTENED TO MY WIFE WHEN SHE SAID MY WORK WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!! and took her advice and made the appropriate changes, (she did say the same thing at Uni the first time, I should’ve listened then too)

If you speak to my Uni friends they will tell you that back then I was a terrible student and I really shouldn’t have achieved. It is surprising how things change as you get older. What this term has taught me is that I can manage all of my commitments, I can learn new things and I enjoy learning, sharing what I know and helping others (though I do a lot of that at work anyway). I’ve really enjoyed the interactions with my fellow wannabe accountants through the Facebook page, through the PASS sessions and made some friends along the way.

The only thing I haven’t enjoyed is that as I run less, I’ve actually put on a kilo and a half in weight over the last three months. Need to work on building in more activity into the study plan.

Term 2 has effectively started and fortunately for me I have two weeks off work of uninterrupted study as I recover from a hernia op. I’m sad to say goodbye to the Bachelor of Accounting and my fellow students on that course, though I’m looking forward to the continued challenge on the Master of Professional Accounting. All being well, we all come out on top at the end of it with everything we want and expect.

Let the studying commence.

New Term, New Beginning

I started this blog as a task for my first accounting unit. It seemed an odd thing to do at the start, but as the unit progressed I could see the point. As I’m no stranger to blog writing it wasn’t a particularly arduous task to keep it both updated and meet the unit requirements and I quite enjoyed doing. Pretty certain it helped a number of my fellow students along the way as well. Now that particular unit is over, what to do with this blog?

Term 2 starts officially in 8 days. A new term and a pair of new units and a new course. I have really enjoyed my first term as a mature student, both accounting and law units were really interesting and I’ve made some friends along the way. The friends, I hope will remain as I step up to a new course. As this week I start on the Master of Professional Accounting post grad degree course.

The first part of the Bachelor was fun, a good introduction into the planning and focus required to balance life, work, study and everything in between. All good things to take into the Masters degree, a degree course that suits me better. I’ve gone from a 24 unit course over 4 years to a 14 unit course over 2 years. The added benefit is that the MPA offers interim awards, so if I want to step away into another career I can do it sooner than waiting the four years to get the Bachelor qualification.

As for the blog it doesn’t form part of the MPA. I think I’m going to keep it up as it’s fun and might help someone along the way.

Today’s loosely connected song is Asian Dub Foundation, “New Way, New Life”. I used to live in Slough, a very mixed race area West of London. When we were there we were privileged to be invited to a number of Sikh and Hindu weddings, they had great music and food, which led me to be a fan of Asian Dub Foundation and this my favorite song, which is reflecting how I feel at the moment.

Good luck everyone in Term 2 and beyond. Happy studies.