Bullying

A few days ago while talking to my mom on the phone, she asked if I had heard about the suicide of a 12-year-old girl in Florida. When I looked in to it more I found out the young girl had jumped off an abandoned silo because of bullying. There have been so many recent cases of bullying leading to suicide deaths and it is truly sad to see and hear. Apparently, the girl's main bully was two years older than her and the tension started when both became interested in the same boy. The fact that this older and supposed to be more mature girl bullied and stalked the other girl over a boy is depressing. I will never understand why a thing like this lead to others getting hurt and ruining lives.

As a more recent update, the 14-year-old's stepmother has now been arrested for child abuse and neglect. She had punched two young kids in her house using her fists, and a video of it was posted online. In a video interview she defends her daughter by claiming she was not a bully and that neither her daughter nor herself should be punished for what happened. Now I can begin to see where the girl thought it was fine to bully someone and why she had no problem with it. Her mother was physically abusive and a bully herself. This goes to show that kids learn from adults and we need to act with respect and kindness towards other.

Internship

As a student in the Master's of Accounting program, it is not required for me to have an internship while going to graduate school. During this school year, I am working as TA for Accounting 305 (Introductory Financial Accounting). However, during the summer I interned at a large accounting firm, Dixon Hughes Goodman, in Rockville, Maryland. The internship started off with a training period for a couple of days in Charlotte, North Carolina where the company is headquartered. Here, I got to meet all the interns from the offices in all the different states. Back in the office, all Monday's were dedicated to working on a large research project for one of the services that DHG practiced in (mine was for Generational Wealth Planning). Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the interns worked on tax, audit, or accounting services tasks that were assigned to us. Every Friday we had trainings on different industries about what goes on with them. I really liked this setup because it allowed for me to work with many employees and managers and also gave me more insight to what field I may enjoy more. Going in to the internship, I thought I would like auditing more than tax and being able to work with both reassured this for me. The best part about the internship though was working with the other interns and many different employees. Everyone was so helpful and friendly and I really enjoyed the whole internship. I am looking forward to starting my accounting career with DHG next October.

Pizza and Peaches

My story is a little scattered. I have been prepped for tornadoes and barricaded in snowstorms. I have lived in 10 different apartments or homes and 5 states along with DC. I have been molded by Northern and Southern accents and traditions. Anyone can get from the North to the South or vice versa by taking a quick plane trip or ambitious car ride, but the difference in the way of life and culture between the two can feel like countries apart. I can explain why it isn’t condescending to call someone “sweetie” and I can explain why it isn’t rude to live a faster-paced life. I don't feel rooted to any one place, but rather have spread my roots all along the eastern US. I like to think that moving has helped me adapt to changes and understand people better. There are always goods to be found and explored from all over, and moving has made me adventurous and wanting to travel and learn more. I can pack up boxes and be the “new girl” because I’ve come to learn that really people are people no matter where you go, and there is always something new around the corner to learn.