one of my greatest hobbies..

In college you'll meet a lot of quirky people. I like to think of myself as an unconventional person with all encompassing hobbies. One of them, a passion really, is that I play the ocarina.

The ocarina is a closed vessel wind instrument that can made out of ceramic, metal, wood, and more materials. Those of you who like to play Zelda will definitely recognize the instrument from those series -- and yes, it's an actual instrument! It actually has over 3000 years of history, and originates from China but was significantly developed in Italy. It comes in pendant, inline, and sweet potato forms. The sweet potato forms were actually distributed to soldiers in.. WWII I believe, to help them while away the time in trenches.

I personally play ocarinas made by Charlie Hind, completely handmade ocarinas made out of exotic wood. I really prefer the mellow tone of the wood as I like to perform flowing, languid songs. The picture you see is a picture of one of mine.

Interested? Think I'm completely nuts? Whatever your reaction may be, I also moderate the largest online community for ocarinists (ocarina players): The Ocarina Network (TON). Life isn't all about studying, grades, and work. Leave some time for your interests. TON can be found at http://www.theocarinanetwork.com

current location: front royal, va

Haha, I feel like the student blog is almost becoming a travel blog this summer. Any of you guys in the area? You should drop by the county building and say hi.

I'm attempting to define the college to workplace transition this summer. After all, that change is only a year (less than, really) away for me. It's definitely a bit scary, taking a step out into the 'real, adult' world and leaving behind classes, parties until 5am, midterms and finals, etc. When you think about it, the only thing we'll have known throughout life by the time we graduate is... school. This transition is one of the biggest life changes we'll go through (the other two I put in the same category is marriage/kids and death). I don't know if I'll transition well, I've only been working for a month. I do know that I like auditing though, I like the variety and travel. But going from filling my days up however I like it.. to having my days mandatorily filled up with work. I... really don't know if I like it. =S

current location: emporia, va

Another day at work, and more experiences to reflect upon. The following might read more as a rambling stream of consciousness than a coherent entry. I hope you'll be entertained by my journey of professional development this summer. :D

I still like the people (always a plus), maybe one quibble.. just one minor quibble... There are so many Tech people in the firm! *cue physical agony* A majority of the people in the firm are awash in red and orange, and there's precious few Wahoos around. That silliness aside, my team, and I feel that the firm as a whole, is pretty relaxed. We have some friendly banter when we're sitting around the table, and my partner doesn't seem to mind when someone's phone inadvertently goes off (the most telling sign, in my opinion). I like this kind of atmosphere, it's conducive to question asking and heavens know I've been pounding everyone with questions every day. He also doesn't seem to mind that I bring small snacks and munch on them. I'm not sure I'd be able to make it through the day if he did though (I'm one of those that eats a lot of small meals).

I'm doing mostly audit work this summer, and I have to say I really like it. Those of you considering accounting, but don't want to be stuck behind a desk, want to talk to people, and like to verify if work's being done correctly, then audit may be the path for you (my one week experiences summed up in a verrry small nutshell). However, accounting in general is so stereotyped that I'm going to have to dedicate an entry to that later this summer.
Thus far my work has consisted of running random tests of disbursements, checking VRS and 941s, and verifying revenues. My current impression is that audit consists of constant work, which is certainly a welcome respite from the two/three week pressure cookers in the comm school. Groups usually need to deliver on a proposal, starting from brainstorm and development all the way through to finish. When it works out, like my amazing group last semester, it's wonderful. When it doesn't, like my group from hell first semester, it really... really... really sucks.

current location regardless, where would i rather be?

Well, not exactly a matter of hating work, or even disliking it, but who doesn't like spending time at home? Food's cooked for you, great furniture and clean surroundings, home is almost like an alien planet sometimes.

I've finally had the privilege to realize what a blessing it is to have family in state this summer. My dad spends some time in Virginia every year, and this year it happened to coincide with summer time. He's helped me move out and in, and I've had the luxury of going home every two weeks thus far. I'll probably consider this pattern all through summer. Gosh, in staters have it nice!

On the other hand, I finally switched from T-Mobile to AT&T last weekend. Love my new phone, love the service. I thoroughly detest T-Mobile right now, absolutely horrid service, especially in C'ville. Then again, most major providers seem to have a difficult time in C'ville. However! I can't stand it that I can't call out, even when I have full bars, or I'll have no bars and will be standing in the middle of the Lawn, furiously shaking my phone because I need to contact someone. My phone being as aesthetically pleasing as a block of turd didn't help things either. (Yeah, you might detect a little bit of bitterness. I've had this phone and service for about 2.5 years now, lots of time for resentment to build up).

Got on my dad's family plan on Saturday, along with a free LG Shine. I'm currently in the rapturous "oh em gee I have a new toy!" phase. I also discovered how to send ringtones and pictures to myself so I don't have to get ripped off buying them through the phone, so now I can't wait for someone to call and text me.

But more on the topic on C'ville and UVA, those of you wondering which provider you should get should probably go for Verizon or AT&T. The majority of my friends have either of the two and they seem to get the best service.

another day at work.

Tomorrow concludes my first week of work at my accounting firm. Verdict? I need more time in order to form a more cohesive opinion, but I do like my colleagues quite a bit. They're funny, easy to talk to, and very willing to show a new person the ropes. This part of my education in the comm school is being realized in full in the real world -- group work. I'm on a team of four - one junior accountant, one senior, one manager, and one partner. This will be the group I work with for the entire summer, and a group that some of the members have worked with for four or five years.

What's unique about this firm is that there's quite a lot of travel. This has definitely been an eye opening experience for me as I've been centrally based in one location all my life. This particular firm also works with many local government and public school clients, and does anything from tax to audit to consulting (I'm sad to say I missed the tax season though, so I won't have an opportunity to experience that).

We're currently in the middle of doing preliminary work for audits (busy season for governments is October and November, when all the papers need to be filed). I've been commuting to Louisa county this week (still living in C'ville!), working with the county government, social services, and public schools. I've run tests of random disbursements, VRS, 941, and tracing receipts. I'm traveling to Greensville next week, and I'm pretty excited about what else I will do.

What's not unique to this firm, but is common only amongst the middle to smaller sized businesses (aka not Big 4) is the opportunity for career advancement and opportunity to take on a lot of responsibility. The lead partner of my team made partner before he was 30! O_O I know, quite unheard of unless you start your own business. Speaking with my colleagues, they feel that they had the opportunity to really make a difference with their work and to take on responsibility that would come much more slowly at a big firm. -- This is one of the biggest things I'm struggling with this summer, go for a big firm or a regional firm? It's something I'm going to have to figure out in three months - when recruiting begins for accounting firms!