Saturday 13 October 2007

Bookkeeping

Saturday afternoon and I'm all over the place. I'm slightly ADHD right now as I am jumping between typing this post, tidying up my apartment and cooking some lunch. I would be much happier focusing on one thing but I am hungry so I need to make something. And what happens is that while my food is cooking I sit down to type and then when I get up to check on the food, I start cleaning. I think once I eat and have some food in me, I will be better at making a game plan and seeing one thing through before starting the next.

I had my class this morning and it was an interesting day for me. I had some insightful moments that are making me think that bookkeeping might not be my thing. Did I mention I'm not a numbers gal? I kinda didn't think that would matter though. Plus, I don't think I understood to what extent I'm not a numbers girl. I'm really not a numbers girl. As for thinking that it wouldn't matter, I kinda thought bookkeeping was all the pre-accounting stuff. I would just take all the receipts, invoices, cheques, account info and make lists and columns out of it. Put it all in the right place and let someone else do the numbers stuff.

Well, I wasn't entirely wrong. It is pre-accountingish and I mostly spend my time putting the right amount in the right column and making sure they add up properly. My problem is that I can't seem to get the actual numbers right. Instead of entering 2000, I write down 200. Instead of 675, I write down 765. Instead on 705, I write down 700. My brain mixes the numbers up. I think I have some form of numerical dyslexia.

So this could get in the way of me being a bookkeeper. It's just that bookkeeper is so fun to spell. Seriously though, I got to class today and compared homework with another student and I had made a few of those transposition errors. Everything adds up at the end so I don't recognize that I am doing this. I am getting the theory part of the class though. We had a quiz today on theory stuff and I got 19/20.

And by 19 out of 20 I mean, 18 out of 20, except that one of the questions was ambiguous and poorly written. It left some room for interpretation and I apparently chose a different one than the instructor did. I got the question right as I understood it and could argue my point and prove that I understood the theory so I count that one as right. The test wasn't for marks by the way, it was just for us to see where we are at.

The other question I got wrong was just a stupid question. It was a multiple choice question about computer accounting. We haven't even touched on computer software for accounting yet so don't ask us a question about it. The question was, "What can't a computer do?" With options for the answer including, post a transaction, update accounts, analyze transactions. I figure you need hands to post the information so a computer can't do that. I forgot that in accounting, the term 'posting' has an entirely different meaning. The right answer was analyze transactions. Ridiculous. Weren't computers invented to analyze information? So in my mind, I actually got 20/20.

As I sat through class, I started wondering what I was doing there. I wanted to be at home painting, or writing or drawing. Am I doing this for the wrong reasons? The explanation and answer of which, deserves it's own post entirely. (See! Post! Totally different meaning)

I flipped to the back of my workbook and wrote this, "I seem to be willing to give up a couple hours a day and my Saturday mornings to work on something that doesn't come naturally and isn't my dream. What if I committed that time to working toward something I already know I want and am afraid to go after?"

That in itself needs another post and a lot more self reflection.

So this is where I'm at now. I will finish this course and hopefully decide fairly quickly what I am going to do about continuing on, or jumping ship. I started this because I really thought that it would be exactly up my alley. But at some point my alley turns right and this program keeps going straight. There are parts of this that I am enjoying but if I can figure out what those parts are exactly and then find them in a different program with other things that I would also enjoy, I think I'd be so much happier.

It's like dating. You date someone to see if they are a good match for you. If they aren't, you take note of what worked or didn't work and try again with someone new who hopefully is a better match than the last. You keep learning what you like and don't like until you find the best match for you.

So that is what I am doing. Figuring out what I like and don't like so that I can make a better match for myself.

2 comments:

Next in Line said...

You will find something great and you are right, the way to do it is to try lots of different things :) Bookkeeping skills will likely help you out whatever you decide. I don't think it is fun to spell bookkeeping. I had to look it up to see if it had two 'k's or one.
emily

Anonymous said...

Hey Karli, thanks for sharing ... for sure, we all have things that we're really good at and it just comes naturally and other things don't quite so much, though that doesn't mean you don't have to try

I think it's cool that you're trying something new that doesn't come as easily to you. It might not be for you in the long run, but you can still learn from it, just like I try to stay in shape and eat fairly healthy even though I'm not super athletic or ripped.

It all comes down to just being yourself and challenging yourself in new ways, but still embracing what you are genuinely good and gifted at; and I think you're definitely an artistic, creative type who will always need some sort of creative outlet in her life. That's just you, and what makes you great :)