I have been lucky to have met and been taught by some great Professors. At first, I thought I could just thank one Professor (whose name I had forgotten!) because he led me to a student (whose name I had forgotten!) who led me to Gleim! A few weeks ago, as I was preparing to move, I found my old class assignments and notes, and I came across the Professor’s name and the student’s name! What a joy!

This morning, while thinking about this post, I realized you that I cannot limit it to just one Professor. I have great memories of so many of them, and they each played a role in how I thought about business, accounting, life, and God. I suspect that most of them did not intentionally send the message they sent or if they did, they did not know how I would interpret it, or how long I would hold onto it, or what impact it would have. Well, even for me, it is only with hindsight, and with other developments in life that I am able to see their impact.

I think when I was in 6th grade, a certain teacher, Mr. Chavula, happened to mention that the three most important things in Mathematics (Arithmetic) were Accuracy, Speed, and Neatness. For some reason, even though I was 10 or 11 years old, it made a huge impression on me, and I never forgot it. When I prepare(d) for a test, when I fill out forms, when I took tests including the CPA exams, those three things were/are there in my mind. You want to turn in correct/accurate answers, you want to answer as much as you can, and finally, if it is handwritten, you want the marker/grader to be able to read what you wrote. Accuracy, Speed, and Neatness.

In Secondary School (=High School), I had a few great teachers. The one I remember most is Brother Cajetan (sp), a Marist Brother who taught Mathematics. I had sucked at Mathematics for a long time, and I remember my mom got me a tutor when I was in 8th grade to help with my school. I just didn’t car. I just didn’t pay attention. When I went to high school, my brain sort of “opened up” and I started to get it, and then when I was in Form 3 (=junior in High School), and Brother “Cagey” turned Mathematics into my favorite subject. I just got it, and by the end of third year, I knew that I would get “1 point”, the highest distinction, when I took the Form 4/University Entrance exams. Looking back, I can see that I used Brother Cagey’s method to study/prepare for the CPA exam. His method was to do all the problems, and when you were done, to do them over again. You will get a bunch wrong, you will see all the tricks that have been used before, you will get tired, and you will develop discipline in the process. I did not go through the questions twice for the CPA exam, but I went through all the questions in either the Gleim Testprep CD or the Wiley 14.0 CD.

What are the other things I remember about my teachers and professors?

- One Professor of Cost Accounting once told me, as we were saying good byes after the end of the semester, that I had “talent” for accounting! Ha ha! I had not thought of myself as having anything special, or that I had done anything extraordinary in his class to be described as talent. Anyway, it was a huge compliment and it gave me confidence in my other classes.
- One Professor of Intermediate Accounting used to say, “this is a tricky question!”, after he asked as a question. I told my girlfriend about it, and we used to call him “tricky questions”. He is one of my all time favorite Professors. He is the one who started me thinking of Accounting or Financial Statements as a sory, not just a set of numbers.
- One Professor of Accounting Information Systems, and I think she also taught me another class where we did lots of research and financial analysis… I enjoyed her classes; her classes were not difficult, they just took lots of time to do. There was no way around it. For example, part of one class was using SAP, and you had the manual right in front of you with instructions on how to do everything, but there was no way you could get things done without going line by line, familiarizing yourself with the menus and reports, to get the assignment/homework done! Another was researching a bunch of companies at the SEC website… lots of 10Qs and 10Ks, and reviewing restatements. Not difficult, but time consuming. I would like to think that the search functionality was not as user-friendly, but I could be wrong. Through all that, I learned the need for patience, how to effectively search for information, and how to “read Financial Statements.” The search obviously became handy on simulations. The other skills became indispensable at work, which led to taking the CPA exams, …
- One Professor for Tax (Federal Taxation, Tax Research, and another class I cannot remember), did various things that were helpful. For example, for one of the classes, the assignment and exams came from an old book with tons of old CPA exam questions. I want to say it was a Gleim book, but I am not sure. That exposed us to CPA exam questions while in school. He was also very strict in his grading. I got a “B” in one of his class and my score was 89.75 or something like that. I emailed him to say I was “frustrated” by that grade. I don’t think he wrote back! I later found out, my email didn’t ask him if he could round that up to 90 and I would get an “A”. Anyway, when I got 74 in REG and failed that CPA exam, it was like his spirit was hovering over me again! Anyway, the 89.75 is in the past, so is the 74. But he graded for all sorts of things that other professors didn’t grade. He invested a lot of time in his grading, but it made us better students. One last thing I remember about him, he had been a “problem child” – well, even adult. I think he was “born-again” in his 30s and that changed his approach to life. Though younger, I could relate to his transformation. I wanted to know how God can make you tick. That is my life long goal. To be the best I can be, for His glory.

I will cut this post short. Points to take home:
1 – A lot of people play a role in getting us where we get to… sometimes we don’t think about it. In academia, it is hard for me to envision one making it without the help of good teachers and Professors along the way.
2 – I had some luck to meet some very good people along the way. I am lucky that I paid attention to some things that were said and used them as motivation.
3 – I was lucky to go to a good school or a few good schools. They help even if you are not the best student.
4 – “God never wastes an experience.” Sometimes you go through “tough” or unexciting life experiences without knowing what use they are for. Only later on, when you are in the right place, and you take time to look back, can you see/understand/appreciate the importance of those experiences.

Professor, thanks for your help!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.