Small Victories

So one of my favorite things to do since starting business school is to read the articles LinkedIn recommends to me based on my interests. In this case, non-profit organization management (i think that's what they call it). My latest fav was an article titled "Learning About Finance: Advice for Nonprofit Leaders." Below is an excerpt...

Build financial literacy. Learn as much as you can about finance and take college business courses, if possible, says Margaret Huggard, president of Catholic Social Services of Oakland County, in Michigan. Ms. Huggard, a social worker by training, recalls that early in her career she took several accounting and finance classes because she knew that any enterprise that didn’t understand its cost structure was destined to fail. She said leaders that can’t manage financial data and decisions put their programs, staffs, and integrity at risk.

For the first time, possibly in my life, i read an article dealing with business (my career path) that contained advice i was ALREADY FOLLOWING. As i read the suggestion about taking accounting and finance classes, i was thinking to myself "look at me go! i'm totally doing that right now!" This may seem trivial but the little boost of confidence regarding my chosen career path felt pretty good. I've questioned many times whether getting my MBA was the right thing for me. After all, you definitely don't need an MBA to run a non-profit, to start your business, or to help people. However, everyone takes different paths to reach their ultimate goal and mine just so happens to include getting my MBA. Which includes taking accounting in finance. Which The Chronicle of Philanthropy totally recommends.

Might i add that today i had my first 'real' test. It was actually only a quiz but its the first grade we've had since our complete class schedule started that wasn't a write-up or power point. Good ole pen, paper, and test questions. And it was in accounting. And i rocked it. I can say this with complete confidence because my professor posted the answers this afternoon... I worked every problem twice (duhhhh do you know me??) and therefore remember every one of my answers, give or take a decimal. I made a 100... saying that makes me feel like i'm in 3rd grade. Will my professor draw smiley faces in the zeroes? Probably not, but i am not above posting that quiz on my refrigerator when he hands them back. This is MBA school people... the big leagues. I'm proud of that thing!

Lastly, i need to add Patagonia to my list of companies (see previous blog). Just finished reading a case for my strategy class about them. Although i am big fan of what they do, i am not sure i could work for them. I've never climbed a mountain and i don't wear birkenstocks. Nor do i own any of their merchandise. However, i would totally be down for afternoon surf breaks and i'm totally down for saving the planet. I should probably learn to surf first.