I knew this week’s BA 199 class would be very helpful because we were going to be practicing our presentations for the following week. The night before, I made a little outline of things that I was going to talk about and tried presenting in under the time they give us, which is three minutes. I put on my formal clothes, grabbed all of my things, and was on my way.

When I got to class, I saw a lot of people in the room. I realized that they had to be the upperclassmen who were here to help us with our presentations. I sat down and then Tayah welcomed us. She then introduced all of the upperclassmen who were here to help us. After that, we split up and were put in groups of two to go with an upperclassman. We introduced ourselves to them then proceeded to present to them. We were going to do it twice to see how we improve. After my first presentation, I got feedback saying to try to shorten my presentation since I went a little over the limit. Then the next person went and did her presentation and the upperclassman gave her feedback. After, we took a small break to prepare ourselves for the next practice presentation. Then I went again and got more feedback, but overall, she said it was a good presentation. My other classmate went again for her second time and got feedback on her presentation. Finally, we just asked questions about anything we wanted to know about the presentation the following week and then we were free to leave.

This class was very helpful for me because being able to present to upperclassmen and get feedback is going to help me for the presentation next class. She gave me very good feedback and ways to improve on my presentation. Now when it comes time to present, I will feel very confident. Not only was this class helpful for the presentation for the following week, but it will be helpful for the future for any presentation I have, whether if it is for a class or for a future job. I will retain all the tips I got for future reference.

Waking up on Friday morning felt nice because it looked like it was going to be a nice day. Friday’s always put me in a good mood because it is the end of a week full of work and class. But it also means that I get to finish the week off by going to BA 199 and learning a bunch of new information. I got ready and put on my nice clothes and I headed out the door.

When I got to class, I sat down and saw that there were a few guests in the room. Tayah then welcomed us and said that we were almost to the finish line of this year as BBL students in her class. She then introduced us to the guests that she had for us. One man, who’s name is Ken, was going to speak to us throughout the class and talk about his life story. He was from Oakland, California and said that he went to the University of Oregon many years ago. Things he told us were that he had a tough road throughout his college experience. He would go to a college near home and then come to the University of Oregon, but then go back home and work at an internship that he was offered to work at. When it was time to go back to Oregon, he got an offer to work at an internship. So he had to decide whether to go back to school or to stay and do the internship. He decided to stay and go work at the internship. In the end, he said he loved what he did, even though he was in college for about 10 years or so. After, we were able to ask questions and learn anything else we wanted about him. After, we were able to leave.

After listening to Ken’s story, it made me realize that it is okay to take different paths while you are in college. He decided to go from college to taking an offer at an internship for something that he really liked to do. If I decide to find something that I liked to do like an internship, I would consider it because I know how much school is important. But this would be such a great opportunity. I would look for advice from my friends and family, but I know they would be very supportive of whatever I do. I know that life can take you through different roads and obstacles, but in the end, it will all end well.

After last week’s class, I was very excited and looking forward to this coming week’s class. Once it was Friday, I got very excited.  I got out of bed and proceeded to get ready. I put on my nice shirt, pants, and shoes and got my things and walked out. On my way to class, I got a message from one of my mentors in the class saying that she expects us to be in class because it was going to be a good one. At that point, I got even more excited.

When I got to class, I saw guests standing in the front of the room and saw they had Moss-Adams on their shirts. I did not know what this was at first. So after I sat down, Tayah welcomed us and introduced the guests she had for us. After, she gave the floor to them for the remainder of the class. They introduced themselves and explained what Moss-Adams was. It was an accounting company that had businesses mainly on the west coast. These people in our class were based from their office in Portland. After they introduced themselves, two of them stood up and told us about their lives and how they ended up at their accounting jobs now. Then they answered any questions we had for them about their accounting business and anything about accounting. After that, class was over and we were free to leave.

I definitely enjoyed this class very much because I learned many new things about accounting and Moss-Adams. Before, I did not think about accounting degrees or even pursuing careers in accounting. Then one of the workers from this business said that when she was in college, someone told her that you can’t do accounting careers with a finance degree. But you can do both finance and accounting with an accounting degree. So that definitely would influence my decision between accounting and finance. I also learned more about what accounting really is and what you do. Plus, one of the workers said that he thought he wanted to pursue a career in engineering at first, but then realized he wanted to pursue a career in accounting. So I thought once again that it is okay if you change your interests and change what you want to do after school. These are some of the things that I was able to take away from this class.