My future career goal is to become a Certified Public Accountant. To help me to better understand the exact day to day life as a Certified Public Accountant, I decided to interview one. I interviewed Michael DiNoto, a Senior Associate in KPMG’s Metro Audit Practice. KPMG is a big accounting company and one of the Big Four auditors. I thought I could get some real insight into what I may be doing in the future by interviewing Michael DiNoto. First I thought it would be helpful to find out some background information about him. I asked him where he went to college and what his major was. He had went to Baruch and obviously his major was Accounting. He has received a BS in Accounting and MS in Taxation from Baruch. He has been licensed as a CPA in NY. I had also asked him what influenced his decision to go to Baruch and become a CPA. He told me he knew he wanted to go into business at a young age, and that in his junior year of high school he decided to become an accountant. While he was researching business schools with a good reputation for Accounting majors, he found Baruch. He thought there was no better option because it is perfect for him major, has a reasonable tuition, and would be a great way to get used to the city by the time he got a job there. One of the most interesting things he told me was the amazing internship he had gotten through Baruch. I always though internships offered little to no salary but he informed me that his internship with KPMG paid him over $50,000 a year. He also told me that his mother was an Accountant as well but she retired quite some time ago. Michael said she was a big influence in his decision to become an Accountant. I asked him what he did day-to-day as a CPA. He told me that he usually goes to the client site with a team from his firm, and brings his laptop. Then he usually stays there for a week sometimes longer and goes through all of their financial statement accounts and performs testing to make sure their financial statement accounts are correct. Then he and his team have meetings with different departments and with the controller or chief financial officer to understand their business better and to get all of the supporting documentation they need from them. I asked if there are any major perks of being a CPA and he said the best part is being able to travel. Being a CPA, he’s traveled for work many times. But he also gets 5weeks vacation every year and this allows him to travel wherever he wants to as well. He says that being a CPA is very stressful at times, but he does not regret his job choice and feels very lucky to be working for such a great company as KPMG. I found this interview to be very helpful and gave me great insight into my future career choice.
Author: m.doherty
Absolute Adrenaline Club
Thursday October 12th I joined a club after going to the General Meeting. The club I visited is called Absolute Adrenaline. This club seems really cool and I think I would really enjoy it. The club size isn’t very big but that means that there is more of a bond or friendship between the members. Some of my friends are joining the club too which makes it even better. The club is designed to give students something fun or exciting to do or look forward to between all the stresses of school. At the club’s general meeting, the representatives discussed some of the many activities they will be having this year. The activities introduced were snowboarding, skiing, paintball,laser tag, rock climbing, and hiking. All of these activities sound really fun and exciting. During the club’s general meeting, we played a lot of icebreakers to get to know each other. One of the activities we were instructed to perform was to get into groups of four and come up with creative ideas on trips we could all go on. We each were giving a budget of twenty-five dollars per person. This was difficult at first because we did not know of many places or activities that only cost twenty-five dollars, but then we found coupons and group discounts online that made our options bigger. One activity everyone seemed to agree on was Bounce, a place full activities done on trampolines. Overall the club’s general meeting was a lot of fun and I am happy to have joined. To thank everyone for coming to thee club they even made a “make your own sundae” table. I thought that was a creative idea because usually clubs just go out a buy sandwiches but I loved their ice cream idea. I look forward to the next meeting and I cant wait to go on one of their many exciting activities!
MO MATH
Recently I visited MO Math, also known as the Museum of Mathematics. It is located in New York City and is just about a three to five minute walk from Baruch College. This museum obviously is about math, but is actually way more interesting than the typical museum of just facts. This museum is an interactive museum. As you walk throughout the museum, there are many exhibits that you can choose from to learn about. There are actually a lot of young children there as well because the museum is so much fun. I typically don’t find museums to be all that interesting but I did enjoy going to this museum. My favorite subject has always been math and to go to a museum all about my favorite subject was pretty cool. Also, I feel that I am pretty good at math, but going to this museum showed me there is a lot I don’t know about, and so much I would want to know about.
As you can see from the picture I posted, my favorite exhibit was the chair. I was fascinated that the museum could even make sitting in a chair fun. I think that was the most popular exhibit there because it was so much fun. Everyone in the museum had a smile on there face, even the workers. Laughter filled the air rather than whispers. I definitely recommend going to this museum to anyone, and I would even go back again.
Visiting the Museum of Mathematics has assisted me during my first seminar at Baruch. I am originally from Queens located New York, and growing I rarely visited the city. Walking around the city and finding this museum has helped me to get more comfortable wandering around in the city. Also, the museum showed me that learning could actually be really fun. This is helpful because I actually want to get more involved in my classes. Visiting this museum has definitely showed me there is so much to learn and how eye opening it could be. So, if you’re looking for something to do during one of your breaks at Baruch, visit the Museum of Mathematics!