Professor Elam

Encounter, Adapt, Improvises, Overcome

Thursday Sept 26, 2024

I added Encounter to this famous Marine aphorism.

aphorism, a concise expression of doctrine or principle or any generally accepted truth conveyed in a pithy, memorable statement. Aphorisms have been especially used in dealing with subjects that were late in developing their own principles or methodology—for example, art, agriculture, medicine, jurisprudence, and politics

I am surprised at many e mails I get that go like I can't find this assignment

 

well it is either on wikipedia or youtube, I mean how hard is that?

The school 'upgraded BB and now I cannot attach in announcements

Here is the thinking on this aphorism

_____________

The Marine Corps phrase ” Improvise, Adapt, Overcome ” can readily be applied to preparedness. When things don’t go as planned you can either shut down, or….

Improvise

Improvise: It has been said by many commentators on military strategy ranging from Sun Tzu to Colin Powell, that the best laid plans last only until initial contact with the enemy.

(Or “…the first shot is fired”, the quotes vary, but the idea is the same.)

By analogy to the contingencies you may be planning for, things can quickly go bad fast: EMP, pandemic, weather, exploding caldera, political situations. Even bad luck can quickly destroy your carefully thought out strategy.

Have a plan (or a series of contingency plans) but leave room for flexibility.

Shift your plans to take advantage of situations as they arise!

• Items can be repurposed or put to dual use. Many of us already do this without giving it a second thought.

 

>> KA-BAR Full Size US Marine Corps Fighting Knife, Straight
(view on amzn)

Adapt

Adapt: Lots of MSB postings underscore the lesson that things are going to be different from what you plan for. Expect this! Be creative, you might just find a new way of doing old things and see things with a new eye.

• For example a couple years ago I had shoulder surgery, which wiped out an ability to hold a hunting rifle with both hands. Solution: hunt with a handgun, weak side no less. It was amazing how my weak side was able to improve itself in practice sessions prior to the season.

 

Overcome

Overcome: Murphy’s law states anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

Be prepared by knowing what other options are available.

Hit an obstacle. Go through it, around it or over it. Come up with creative solutions.

Stuff is great, but the most important thing is your brain, use it!

• Encounter a life obstacle? There are many ways to skin a cat!

 

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

It is an approach to readiness, and how to act in the face of adversity.

It is a state of mind!

SA TXCPA Student Career Workshop

Monday  seot 23, 2024

Good afternoon! 

 

Our Accounting Careers Workshop is this Friday, September 27th! 

 

We will be meeting at the Norris Conference Center 618 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78216 

 

Registration begins at 5:00 PM and our table top speakers will begin at 6:00 PM.  We have a phenomenal lineup of speakers for our student members to hear from.  

 

We ask you, our accounting professors and professionals, to not only encourage your students to attend (bribery with extra credit is always allowed), but also you to attend to see the amazing work that you are doing and the association you support and encourage your students to support.  We know that feeding the pipeline is one of the biggest challenges facing our industry today and these formative steps are what help build up the next generation and give them the support they need to continue on and dive deep into their career and passions! 

 

Attached you will find a flyer with a QR for students to register for this event.  Here is the link as well, in case you wish to send it out electronically: Event Details | TXCPA

 

If you have any questions or are interested in being one of our table top speakers, please reach out to Jacqui or myself! 

 

Thank you for all that you do for the profession as well as for our next generation! 

 

 

Hannah Graham   Membership Operations Coordinator

 

Posting your resume is nice

Meeting accounting professionals  F2F, exhibiting knowledge of recent accounting developments, frauds, rulings, and exchanging a card with your name, major, school, graduation date, cell number and e mail address, is much better

Upcoming Student TXCPA Events

Thursday Sept 5, 2024

TXCPA San Antonio Students, Welcome Back!   Here is what is in store for September:

Are you truly ready to pass the CPA Exam? Have you studied enough? Are you focusing on the right material? There’s really only one way to find out – give it a try! You are invited to participate in a live 4-hour mock CPA Exam workshop hosted by the Texas Society of CPAs and Surgent CPA Review to see if you are ready to ace the exam. This unique opportunity will allow you to experience what it is like to sit for any CPA Exam section as you immerse yourself in questions pulled from the actual CPA Exam Blueprints. Plus, you will leave the session with your own personalized ReadySCORE™ (an accurate measurement of your actual exam score) as well as a detailed report showing your areas of strength and weakness for that section. Advanced registration is required by Monday, September 9 and the email provided will be used to set up your simulation on Surgent’s software. Don’t go into exam day unprepared – find out if you’re ready by registering today!   REGISTER HERE

Student Member Benefit: Post your resume   TXCPA San Antonio's Career Center provides student members with an opportunity to post their resume for free and browse the posted listings in our area. In a talent shortage crunch, TXCPA San Antonio's Career Center will amplify your resume to local members and on the TXCPA's career centers across the state. Visit the Career Center HERE

TXCPA-San Antonio 2024 Corporate Sponsors

Connect Through Blackboard

Wed Sept 4, 2024

My M H tech rep provided this tutorial on how to access connect via Black Board

 

Connect Registration through Blackboard LTIA (IA)

Meet Sylvester 'Sly' Johnson

Tuesday Sept 3, 2024

Mr. Johnson will address ACCT 4311 Tuesday 2 00 PM  10/1/2024

ACCT 4311 Saturday Noon  10/12/2024

SYLVESTER “SLY” JOHNSON, CPA & MBA

Sly is the currently the Chief Administrative Officer for the San Antonio accounting firm, ADKF. Prior joining ADKF he was a CFO-level Consultant with the professional services firm VACO. He moved to San Antonio in 2016 to take on the role as Whataburger’s Chief Accounting Officer where he was also the Vice President of Strategic Execution and Business Transformation. Prior to joining, Whataburger Sly spent many years in similar financial roles with Bob Evans Farms, Dex One Corporation, 7-Eleven Inc., and The Dallas Morning News. His career journey has also included time in a corporate audit and finance role with PepsiCo and YUM Brands, respectively. He started his career in public accounting with PWC where he rose to the senior manager ranks while also working in the National Office as the Assistant to the Insurance Industry Chairman. He earned a BBA from the University of Notre Dame, as well as an MBA from Bellarmine University. He has held various community service roles during his career and is currently on the Board of San Antonio and Texas CPA Societies and the Our Lady of The Lake Business Programs Advisory Board.

 

 

Internships

Monday 9/3/2024

PwC

Hey TXCPA San Antonio Student Auxiliary!

I know a lot of you had asked me recently and looks like PwC internships for 2025 are open!

 

Tax Intern - Winter 2025 at PwC

jobs.us.pwc.com

 

ADKF

 

ADKF | with you all the wayADKF | with you all the way 1,810 followers1,810 followers 4d •

4 days ago

 

 

 

Kickstart your career with ADKF! Our 2026 Audit Internship application is open, and we are seeking ambitious interns ready to gain hands-on experience and grow in a dynamic environment. We offer flexible scheduling to balance work and academics, opportunities for career advancement, senior guidance, and a supportive team culture. To apply, click the link below or email your resume to our in-house recruiter at [email protected] today!

https://hubs.ly/Q02LVTlv0

Upcoming Student TXCPA Events

Wednesday August 28, 2024

Be sure to attend these mixers for accounting students.

8/30 TX-CPA Fall Semester Welcome Party from 6:00-7:00 at The Rock at La Cantera

1 Spurs Way, San Antonio, TX

 

9/12 Mock CPA Exam virtual event registration deadline is 9/9/24 Registration link: Event Details | TXCPA

 

9/18 TXPCA Genera Member Meeting from 6:00-7:00. Location: Science & Technology Building Rm 143 RSVP at TXCPA General Meeting - JagSync 2.0 (tamusa.edu) 

 

9/26 Meet the Firms from 5:00-7:00 Location: Texas A&M University - San Antonio, Science and Technology Building, 1st Floor Lobby One University Way, San Antonio, Tx, San Antonio, TX RSVP at:  Meet the Firms - JagSync 2.0 (tamusa.edu)

 

Thanks to our own Erica Acosta for her role in co chairing the Student Auxiliary at SA TXCPA Contact Erica as follows

 

Erica Acosta

TXCPA San Antonio

[email protected]

Cell: (210) 707-7054

Accounting Mentees

Tuesday Wednesday Aug 20, 2024

I recently sat in on a zoom conference for Faculty Advisors for TXCPA  students. The demonstration was from Univ or North Texas. They demonstrated the mechanics of taking the CPA exam, how to qualify, parts of the exam, preparation, etc.  My response was  this is Phase Two, you missed Phase One,  Phase One is MOTIVATION. IF you are  not motivated, all the information in the world on the mechanics of test taking is worthless.

So we start with motivation

Emerson on Self Reliance

https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/triumphnationalism/cman/text8/selfreliance.pdf

Adam Khan Modern English Version

https://www.adamlikhan.com/2020/07/self-reliance-translated.html

Arnold S on Why 2% succeed and 98% fail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bumPyvzCyo

Denzell Washington Fall Forward

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko09F7op8ic

Join SA TXCPA Society

https://www.tx.cpa/resources/become-a-cpa/become-a-student-member

Scroll down to Aug 15 Join

https://www.tx.cpa/resources/become-a-cpa/become-a-student-member

Student activities are on Aug 15

Friday Sept  27 Accounting Careers Workshop  5 30 Norris Conference Center south of North Star Mall Across North Loop 410

The registration information for that workshop is not yet up on the SA TXCPA website. Make a note to check by say next Friday and register.

Check out my weblog which has  won two national awards. This lists business information in that real world outside class as well as events like

Careers Workshop and TAMUSA activities.After reading the links above, you can post a comment on  my weblog.

www.professorelam.typepad.com

Reach me at

[email protected]

[email protected] - remember when on the school site the school has access to everything you say

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abraham trevino TAMUSA Alum Becomes # 124,774 Texas CPA

Monday June 24, 2024

Abraham Trevino majored in history at UT Austin. He is a SA native, returned here and got a job in accounting. He liked it, so he enrolled at TAMUSA. He completed the additional hours to obtain the requisite  150 to sit for the CPA exam. He passed all four parts on his first attempt, a rare event. Here are some photos of his induction in Austin.

4 Year Degrees at Alamo Colleges

Thursday May 16 2024

 

Joannette Casias is 41, a mother of eight, and pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Palo Alto College through a new Alamo Colleges program that helps connect students with high-wage careers. 

Having grown up fatherless in a “hard neighborhood with little means,” Casias found redemption through the “familia” at Palo Alto. She began attending classes at the South Side campus in the fall of 2022, working toward a two-year associate’s degree in business, then recently learned about the college district’s new “AlamoU” initiative.

By 2026, the first-generation college student hopes to earn a bachelor’s of applied technology in operations management. 

“Really, the sky’s the limit for me. There’s so many ideas I have,” said Casias, who had her first child at 16.

RELATED: Alamo Colleges seeks to double workforce training

She had worked for years in restaurants, hotels and offices, got her GED and took courses in professional development, “trying to find my way, with no direction.” Now she’s closing in on a four-degree at a community college campus that’s affordable and less intimidating than a university setting. 

Through changes in state law approved by the Legislature in 2017 and 2021, the district has begun offering bachelor’s degrees in high-demand fields, starting with a nursing program at San Antonio College that launched in 2021. 

The AlamoU campaign, which is working to expand those offerings, is “a strategic response to the burgeoning demands in key economic sectors,” district Chancellor Mike Flores said at a recent celebration of the new programs.

Turning lives around and breaking cycles of poverty is crucial to the Alamo Colleges’ mission of “empowering our diverse communities for success,” he said.

“We at Alamo have recognized the evolving landscape of workforce requirements across the community and have taken proactive steps to equip our students with the necessary skills to excel in high-wage, high-demand fields,” Flores said. 

Tuition and fees for 12 semester hours in the bachelor’s programs are expected to range from $1,370 to $4,370 this fall. The new programs typically start with cohorts of 50 to 100 students but that’s expected to grow. Over a lifetime, a graduate with a bachelor’s degree typically earns more than 80% more than one with a high school diploma, Flores said.   

Jasmine Carrington-Brannon will graduate this month, earning a bachelor’s in nursing from SAC, whose 57-year-old nursing program is the largest in San Antonio with 300 to 400 students each semester.  

She hopes to land a job with the Veterans Administration, and is counting on her degree to help forge a career path wherever she goes.

“Being a military spouse, I need to be prepared, if I have to move to a different state or anywhere, to be able to work with that community,” Carrington-Brannon said.

RELATED: Nursing program taking root at South Side Alamo College site 

St. Philip’s College is adding a bachelor of applied technology degree in cybersecurity in the fall, and Northwest Vista College plans to offer a similar degree in cloud computing, following approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. A fifth bachelor’s program is being developed at Northeast Lakeview College.   

Casias credits Joseph Coppola, the chair of career and technical education programs at Palo Alto, with inspiring and challenging her to reach beyond her own expectations. He told her about the new degree program while it was in the planning stage. 

 

“I think I was limiting myself because of my background, and he would speak about the potential I had, not just in the skills I already brought forward, but the skills I was developing, and how quickly I was able to catch on,” she said.

Having raised four children, Casias remarried in 2016 into a “beautiful blended family” with four more. She and her husband have talked about forming a carpet cleaning and restoration business. But she’s networking, expanding her credentials and will “allow this road to take me where it leads.”

“We live in a world where you have to be adaptable,” Casias said.