When you were a kid, what did you want to be?

Nonproliferation of what?

I studied CPA accounting and finance in business school. I regret that a little- I should have studied CPA accounting and economics & cleared the first part of the CFA.

 

I thought I wanted to be a lawyer until I went to work for my cousin's firm while I was in High school...still work for him but as a paralegal...not all of the bs that is associated with the other.

 

Adventure, fame is nothing. going from city to city playing in the field, and the moon space is such a beautiful place.

the nonproliferation is for weapons it could be anything really,

and yea political science you cant get no job it seems

 

Have you considered Law School?

 

I don't know I only need 1 more year to get my Bachelor's in Accounting so rather then going back to go to law school i feel like just falling back with accounting, one course in poli sci and i felt like that was what i wanted so i switched which was really dumb looking back but maybe its something in the future i wouldnt mind looking into, but i really have limited interest in law school

 

My Tax professor had a dual JD/CPA accounting. The two fields go hand to hand for business law as well as financial sector careers.

 

hm, makes sense. I took a class in business law and thankfully it was a 101 level and wasnt too bad, when i take another year for the bachelors, im sure ill need some electives to fill up space. won't be for another year but im scouting colleges and courses in my area already

 

You may have done this already, but check the Becker CPA site and look for the minimum requirements for CPA license in the state where you want to work. In many states, you don't need a masters' degree.

 

I know in new york it was 5 years + the bachelors, i have to check NC thanks for the name of the site i will check it out. I do want to get my MBA though but not right away, i figure at one point bachelors will be the new associates in terms of perception or acceptance.

 

An associate's in accounting is almost useless to convert to practical skills. One needs to finish the entire track,be able to add value in a professional environment, and know their stuff cold (or enough to clear the CPA). The job market for accounting is tough now, just like jobs everywhere else. It took my friend from a top ranked state school more than half a year to get a back office fund accounting job. He was laid off three months later due to market setbacks that were eating away at his firm.

 

I really don't want to have to resort to getting a MBA for the sake of networking after I finish my designations. It's a waste of time and lots of money for me, as I took most of those classes already and would have already studied beyond the curriculum.

 

Yea the associates in any profession really holds no weight to it, i think the only reason its offered at colleges is so the students can get half a degree and then decide if they want to stay or transfer it seems to me, because application wise i dont see any place advertising that they want people with a 2 year degree.

My dad was an accountant for a while, until the machines came in and they revamped his whole division cutting a lot of jobs, Since he was one i had at times felt like that should be my path too, not so much to live in his footsteps but I know he was really happy when i went to college studying Accounting.

 

Yea, you have to be careful these days not to slot yourself in a professional area where you'll be expelled due to innovation. A lot of back office/ quant work in finance, accounting, comp-sci, engineering, consulting, etc. is increasingly outsourced to Indian Phd/grad school graduates working in India.

 

This conversation reminds me, if I was 10-15 and knew that I would be spending almost all of my college days and 20s/entire youth studying books/working stuff on the computer 14 hours a day almost every day.... I may have experienced a total morale collapse then and there knowing that I would have to face a decade and more of this sorrow. My suicidal teenage fantasies may have come true. It was this dream, this fantasy that great things lay soon and promptly at the end of this miserable road that kept me going.

The horror, the horror

 

I guess I had always been interested in science. When we moved to Abilene, I (age 5) told my parents I was going to Abilene Christian College to study the A-bomb! I was more influenced by the movie, "Destination Moon" later and wanted to build spaceships. Some of my early "engineering" drawing material had "ship" misspelled! I'll leave it to you to guess the mode of the error!

This conviction to get into the space business was greatly increased in Middle school. My friends and I heard over the school PA system about the USSR launching of Sputnik! We got into amateur rocketry big time! And since most of my buddies were AF brats, I became interested in the USAF. (I had built airplane models since I was 6)

So when I went to The University, I enrolled as an aeronautical engineer and in the AFROTC. My other room mates were in physics and they convinced me to switch to physics. After graduation, I worked at NASA Johnson as an intern for two summers while I worked on my masters.

After my PhD, I entered the USAF and worked in the old Aerospace Research Lab at WPAFB. I lived across the street from the AF Museum so my interst in WWII was greatly increased too! My AF career took all the way to the Pentagon where I worked on infrared sensor technology and space experiments. Upon retiring, I took my current job: as a senior detector engineer here at NASA GSFC.

And along the way I learned to fly and used my VA bill to train until I had my CFII. So
that early desire to understand the A bomb took me a long way. And I have my Middle school friends (all AF brats mostly) to thank for getting me into the amateur rocketry and eventually the USAF too!Of course, I had plenty of encouragement from my parents and my teachers to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude (as Irusso pointed out ealier!).

 

Tex,

The way you describe your childhood and dreams brings to mind a movie.... Have you ever seen October Sky?? It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Laura Dern. This story is right up your alley I think you would really appreciate it. It's neat to see one of our Rogues who's dream has lead to bigger and brighter avenues! Truly an inspiration. I'm telling ya, people who can encourage and lift you up are deserving of such praise. I only hope to be a mentor someday and fulfill the same role. Thank you for sharing Tex

Mark

 

Thanks JS. Yes, I remember October Sky. A dear friend of mine, Dan (who became a world famous radiologist), was one of the rocketry club members...we were a little later than October Sky but not by much!

Unfortunately, Dan and his part of his family were killed in an auto accident in 1986. Sadly, he and his unborn son were killed. His wife and adopted son survived.

Years later, Dan's wife contacted me about October Sky since Dan had told her so much about our rocket and balloon experiments in high school. it was nice to talk with her about that time. I still miss Dan; he was a wonder friend and a great doctor!

Oh, Dan's adopted son just graduated from MIT last year no doubt encouraged by Dan's wife!

Thanks for posting the topic!