My Learning Experiences: September 16, 2014

         Throughout the past three weeks, I have learned many new things in both my classes and outside of class.  As an accounting major, I am taking many math and business related classes.  In these classes, I have learned a lot more about the corporate world and how to actually become an accountant.  One class I have really enjoyed so far is called Introduction to Financial Management.  In this class, I have learned a great deal about financial ratios and leverage, and I have learned how to take the information accounting gives us and utilize it to analyze a company’s financial position and help a company become more profitable.  I am also in an Introduction to Marketing class, which I find to be very fascinating.  Over the summer, I was a marketing intern for AT&T, so it has been very interesting to learn more about Marketing and why it is important to businesses.  Through this class, I have learned that in order for any type of good or service to be profitable, it must have a great marketing method.  No matter how great a good/service is, without a decent marketing plan, it will not be successful.  I am in two accounting classes, one being Introduction to Federal Taxation and the other being Financial Reporting One.  I was initially dreading my tax class, considering I have heard terrible things about tax accounting and was told that it is tremendously boring.  However, it’s not nearly as bad as I expected it to be.  My teacher does a good job of making the class as fun as it can be, and I have learned some interesting facts about taxation through reading my book.  One noteworthy piece of information I learned is that there are five states that don’t charge sales tax- Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.  I had no idea that there were some states out there that didn’t charge sales tax, so I found this fact to be intriguing.  In my Financial Reporting One class, we have gone over journal entries and how to create the various financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, etc.).  Taking this class has helped me solidify what I would like my future career to be.  I am planning on becoming an auditor for a public accounting firm, and I have really enjoyed this class so far, which has affirmed my future career plans.     

            In Literature and Civilization II, I enjoyed reading Huckleberry Finn much more than I thought I would.  I read this book my freshman year of high school and did not enjoy it in the least.  Since then, I had forgotten much about it other than that I did not like it very much.  After reading it a second time through, I can honestly say that I somewhat like the book.  Sure, it was initially hard to get used to the language the characters used and the way they spoke, but once I was used to that I found the story to be exciting and insightful.  The way African Americans were treated during this time period is absolutely appalling, and Huck Finn is a reminder of this atrociousness and encourages people to never act in such a prejudiced way ever again.  I believe that everyone should read this book, because it shows that all people should be treated equally, no matter their race, age, sexual orientation, nationality, etc.  While I think our world has come a long way and is not nearly as prejudiced as it used to be, I think there are still many improvements that have to be made in order for us to believe that everyone is treated equally and fairly, and reading Huck Finn is a great way to show everyone the importance of equality.  Through reading Huck Finn, I also learned many more vocabulary words, such as the word “injun.”  On page 55, Huck says, “Honest injun I will,” and this word simply means “American Indian.”  This phrase used to be used to emphasize the truth of something.

            Outside of class, I have learned more about time management and how to manage my schedule for this semester.  I have learned how to stay more organized and keep my room cleaner, and I have also gotten adjusted to the new semester and all the new classes I am taking.