Introduction
Personal Goals
Playing to Your Strengths
Building on My Competencies
Conclusion

School is a tool that allows you to be in control of your success or failure. You must match your pursuit of your degree based upon your strengths and not allow your weakness to hold you back. With goals, interest, and competencies guiding us into career development, I had to ask the hard question, “am I qualified to own a business after getting my Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting?” In the pursuit of our dreams, we have to remember to keep our integrity intact as the college environment will present many opportunities that will force us to choose. Make sure to use every resource and opportunity available. Allow mentoring by instructors, classmates, academic advisors, and people in your field of study that can help guide you to your goal.
I had to make the correct decision for me because I was in control of success or failure. Being married with a stepson and working fulltime meant that the traditional college road was not the one for me. The University of Phoenix was the perfect choice for me in pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Accounting. It would allow me to continue to work and get a degree in an online setting. I knew that there were not many opportunities in my area for a career in a large corporation. And while I could work at a local firm, my plan was to own an Accounting firm. A gigantic step I was undertaking but had believed that I could do it.
It was that entrepreneurial thinking alive again. I had chosen something that I had an interest and was one of my strengths. With a love for data and numbers, accounting was the obvious choice. I could lead people and had spent many years working to lead teams for someone’s company. Taking the initiative was something that I had always done and no longer would I wait to be discovered. No one was going to hand this to me. “Go get it!” is what I said to myself. Successful people take action. They forge ahead not limiting themselves by any weakness that they might possess. Not controlled by obstacles in their path, it becomes a stepping stone. Barriers related to experience and education are easy to overcome.
In the pursuit of success, I must not lose sight of my values. My integrity must remain intact. It not “by any means necessary” (Malcolm X, OAAU Founding Rally, June 28, 1964), but using every resource and opportunity available. Allow mentoring by instructors, upper classmates, or people in your field of study that can guide you to your goal. Opportunities can come through your network of relationships. You are only limited by the unwillingness to tap into the resources available to you.
In conclusion, even though I have never owned a business, I am in control of my destiny. The goals set, and the plan is in place. Goals and program based in what I can do and not what I should do. Goal focused and now it is time to deliver the results. You are in charge of the outcome: listen to your heart; use your head, and act in confidence.