at the feet of friar luca pacioli

last night, i started my final class in the journey to get my associates degree in accounting. to begin, i enjoy accounting. why, you ask? i don't know. my bachelor's degree is in history, and previous math classes were completed with the sole purpose of getting the required minimum exposure. in short, numbers and i have never had a warm relationship. on top of that, even accountants will tell you, accounting can be an extremely dry subject. this is the second part of a two class series, the first of which i completed a year ago. unfortunately, the community college i attend only offers this class once a semester, unless they decide otherwise, which was the case for the fall 2008 semester.

i have been dreading this class. the previous class nearly gave me an ulcer; partly due to the fact the tests asked in detail subjects that were barely covered in the book, and the instructor did nothing to fill in the gaps. if "hate" is too strong of a word, the feelings i had for the class, the book, and the instructor came very, very close. i managed to scrape by with a 'B' in the class in large part to just dumb luck...and i do mean "dumb luck". with scant comprehension i had of the previous material, coupled with the fact it was a year ago, i attended the first class last night fully prepared to offer the instructor shameless, unsubstantiated bribes.

imagine my surprise when the instructor actually began teaching. while those who know me may view this as sardonic wit, i assure you, i am in earnest when i tell you this is a refreshing change to the previous class. the instructor last night explained an accounting concept (last night was types of bonds, valuation of bonds, and amortizing the cost of issuing the bonds. i told you this was dry stuff!), and then utilized the book to punctuate his explanation. he even brought in a clipping of the financial page to show the link from the abstract book to actual events in the real world. my last instructor did not "teach", she "recited", meaning she would start at the first sentence of the first chapter, and proceeded to to read the entire chapter to us. and would use the same information to answer questions we had about what she just read to us. there were people in my last class who were taking the course for the second time, and well on the way to failing again.

while this is only the first class, i have much confidence that even though i may not ace the course, at least i will walk away knowing more than when i walked in. and so, i happily sit at the feet of friar luca pacioli, the father of accounting, drawing double-entry journals in the dust, because if it's possible, i've discovered accounting can be fun again.