My relationship with numbers has always been tenuous; if there is one subject in which I've declared myself resolutely inept, it's math. During high school Algebra, my best friend and I would hide under one of the large desks in the back of the room and refuse to come out. We'd carve our names under our wooden refuge and write notes to the students we'd imagine would find our advice years into the future. I feel incredibly guilty for putting our teacher through this, but we walked around that school like we owned it because both of our parents were teachers. There weren't a lot of perks when your mother was on the faculty, but one of them was immunity to discipline. Let's just say I didn't learn a lot in Algebra that (or any) year. 

Given my background, I naturally had a mixture of emotions when my corporate finance firm suggested I enroll in an Accounting course to help supplement my lack-of-a-finance-background this summer. I know. Me, finance? Iwork for a corporate finance company, a decision I made three years ago out of necessity which has surprisingly grown into a budding career that I actually enjoy. It's not acting, but most theatre companies in Saint Louis rehearse and perform in the evenings and weekends so it's common for actors to wear multiple hats. It was a thought that would've made me laugh a few years ago. But alas, I'm on my climbing the corporate ladder and this Financial Accounting class was the next step.

The class was 8 weeks long, and we met once a week for three hours. Perhaps I took for granted how much time had actually passed since college, but I was rudely reminded when we introduced ourselves on the first day. The average age in the class was 21, and nearly every other student was enrolled full time at surrounding colleges--Mizzou, Saint Louis University, etc. The angst, palpable; their attitudes reminiscent of my 5 years of undergraduate study. This is pointless, I'll never use this in real life, somebody please come bring me something alcoholic and fruity. Suddenly I realized I was the resident dinosaur of our class.

I wanted an A for two reasons. My boss would know what grade I earned, but even beyond that I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable. I've worked at my firm for three years, so prior to the class I was entirely self-taught. My first year was spent slogging away doing hellish data entry, while I picked up what I could when I had a few moments to spare. However, there were many concepts I was unclear on. I fought the determination to hide underneath the table, stopped make excuses for why I would never be mathematically successful, and put my nose to the grind.

And low and behold, I earned my A. The professor posted our grades and I admit, I was far too excited over a small evening class at a community college. Eight weeks later, and I've got a sturdy base for financial accounting success. And the most surprising result? I actually enjoyed it! I found Accounting to be weirdly satisfying, like watching somebody parallel park perfectly or those Russian stacking dolls. Each side must equal, must be accounted for. 

Financial Accounting consumed much of my focus over the past month, and as a result I struggled with staying on target in other areas (ie. health/fitness goals, creative planning, etc). We start a 30 day step challenge at work today; nothing like a bit of healthy competition to reignite my motivation! My sweet tooth takes on a life of its own during the summer months. I imagine he grows into an enormous bi-polar tooth man with bruises and a bad attitude. He is bi-polar because I'm tempted to eat sweets when I'm both extremely happy and extremely sad. Bruises because obviously he'd have plaque from all of the sugary foods. I can wax poetic about desserts, but simply put there's just something about sweating profusely that makes me crave ice cream.