ASSIGNMENT STAGE 1

Makayla Comelli
CQUniversity

This time last year I had just graduated high school, feeling accomplished and ready to face the real world… after schoolies of course. I had not even known my OP at that time, but I remember the bittersweet feeling of being done with studying… but not knowing if I had got the OP I desired. So, I had to wait… as I was applying for university and putting my preferences down, I was heading more towards teaching because I felt like it would be a very rewarding job and a lot of fun. I wanted to be a business teacher, in high school I studied business from grade 9 – 12 and if I had chosen not to go to university, I know I would be getting my business certificates l, ll and lll or as many as I could. So while looking at all the courses I could apply for, I stumbled across a dual degree in a Bachelor of Business and Accounting. It really stuck out to me and a friend of mine who I was working with at the time was also studying it. I thought, why not? I was already so intrigued by businesses and while I never really thought much about accounting, I couldn’t see the harm in giving it a go.

My father owns a business, he owns 3D Engineering in Mackay with 2 other men and he also owns a farm, so having a role model in my life who ran his own business is what I think got my so interested in the business world. He tells me now he wishes he done a course on accounting too, so he is very proud of my career choice to say the least.

I always thought you had to be good at maths to do accounting. not that I’m not any good at maths, I just was never really top of the class in high school – business and English were more my strong suits. But now, just one year later I am studying Business and Accounting at University and I scored my first full-time job as a trainee Accountant… and I LOVE IT!

I feel happy and relieved that I have not only figured out what path I want to walk down but that I have been blessed with the opportunity to start my career while undergoing my studies.

When I first took the job, I was a little overwhelmed and worried about how I will juggle both of them together, but I don’t think anything has ever overwhelmed me more than when I started reading the 15-page introduction to this unit.

When enrolling into this unit I was certainly not expecting to be challenged in my writing skills like this. So far, throughout high school and my first year at university, most of my writing has just challenged me analytically whereas, this has taken it to a whole new level. Although I feel like I am writing about myself and addressing the key concepts and questions of the chapters it feels odd not referencing and writing informally.

Reading Martin’s study guide, he is so formal and sophisticated and also an incredibly good teacher, he has a wonderful way of explaining things in detail. Just enough so that I could grasp an understanding of the content and not too much that it becomes boring and unretained. My way of learning in high school is how martin describes the regurgitating method. I practically would just revise content over and over until it stuck in my head, enough so that on the exam I could just word vomit onto a piece of paper and try to make sense of it as I re-wrote it. Gladly to say, it worked… but I will admit, the minute I walked outside of the exam doors – relieved with the weight lifting off my back that the exam is something I no longer had to stress about anymore, but I can hardly remember all the things I had learnt. So, while it clearly benefitted me at the time, it has absolutely no value to me now.

The way Martin describes rote learning in his Introduction of the study guide came across to me very similar to the game “memory” where in order to win the game, you have to remember where the card is placed. Over time and repetition of picking up the wrong cards, you start to remember where they are. However, after the game is finished no one ever remembers where those exact cards are placed again because there is no need for it. Similar to rote learning, people who only learn by repeating it so many times that it is retained. Sort of like learning your phone number. But in this case a lot of the times we miss vital information. I was shocked when I started reading at the “reasons for the seasons” segment in the introduction about how many graduated college students who studied astrology from Harvard were asked simply questions that they would’ve learnt from back in the first year of studying at university or even high school. This would indicate to me that these students spent majority of their university life using the rote learning method instead of actively trying to learn, comprehend and understand the content.

When I read Martin’s ‘6 Ways of Learning’ I ask myself, “Am I really learning for the long term benefit of being educated and expanding on my intellectual development or is my way of learning just as Martin describes ‘rote learning’ which is clearly not learning at all?”

Martin’s introduction actually made me ponder a lot of questions like “Why am I only just learning about this now??” and “How much better would I be if I knew all of this when I had just started high school?” I mean… the rote method is not necessarily a terrible way to learn, I mean that’s how we learn our mobile numbers, how we remember passwords and other small details – however it is not an ideal method for vital information we need to know for the rest of our lives.

Martin’s study guide has certainly made me re-evaluate how I intend on under-going my study this term and how I will be actively learning, not just for the sake of passing but for the sake of understanding and to take something away from this unit. Not just to be one step closer to the finish line but hopefully I will be able to use some of the knowledge I get out of this unit into my real life at work.

Another thing that really stuck out in Martin’s study guide was the time commitment that I had to make to ensure I would pass this unit with flying colours. I was at first a little frightened at how big the assignments were and thought to myself, when am I ever going to get this done between work and family commitments but seeing both of the assignments broken down into steps has certainly made it easier to digest and work on.

I was also overwhelmed when I first heard about peer-wise. I like that it is something you can do on your phone when you’re on lunch or bored watching TV and want to get out of doing the dishes, so you sit on your phone and say you’re doing an assignment hahaha. Although I tend to forget to get on there and do it often, it is definitely something I need to get into the habit of doing and reminding myself that even 20 minutes a day would help grow my score. Even though it is only worth 5%, that 5% is still what makes the difference between a credit and a distinction.

Seeing all the tips that Martin included in the introduction definitely helped me calm down and focus a little bit. It was very pleasing to see all the tips and notes on how to succeed in this unit.

Chapter 1

As I started to read the first chapter, I thought I would be overwhelmed and suffocated in a bunch of new information and that it would take me forever to digest and comprehend. To my surprise, I was very interest to read about it and actually found martin’s style of writing easier to read, enjoy and understand as oppose to reading information from a textbook. The first paragraph talks about the reality of numbers and I thought that was really interesting since I never really thought about anything like that, so it certainly opened up my eyes to that side of things. As the paragraph continued, I felt a little bit familiar with things because I have done 5 business subjects this year in university and I also took business subjects in high school, so the business world at this point feels very familiar to me.

Reading through the chapter, I understood the significance that accounting has on businesses. Through all of my learning from other units about business, they don’t necessarily address the accounting aspect, at least they haven’t yet… and I suppose it isn’t something I really thought about. I have done subjects on marketing; how global businesses work and some units in relation to human resource management but never any that addressed the importance of accounting and anything really financial. So, reading this chapter was very interesting and helped me gain insight to how important numbers are in a company because without it then businesses would not run properly and without those businesses operating many people would be without a job. Reading about this aspect kept me very entertained with how accounting works and in a way explains how accounting is the framework to many businesses.

I know I have only just scraped the surface on the accounting world and there is still more to come but I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Martin’s chapter one and already feel excited to continue onto the next chapter. I will finish off this reflection by saying I feel motivated and empowered to start my journey in the world of business and accounting.