Thread by @theinfamouscpa

[THREAD]

Circa 2011-2012. Senior year of HS.

I was a sneaker head, super materialistic & superficial, and severely lacked self confidence.

Don’t screenshot these pics lmao 👇🏾

High school graduation was my turning point.

I was envious of those who were ranked higher than me in our graduating class, not because I felt they were intellectually inferior to me, but because I knew that they out worked me and I was ashamed.

Peep the black cement 3’s 🤦🏾‍♂️😂

After graduation I made it my mission to not let anyone else out work me again.

I decided to attend a local community college (Prairie State College), as I didn’t get a chance to visit any universities during high school.

That experience was fruitful as I was able to...

Go to school for free, and visit colleges.

I decided to transfer to Northern Illinois University & study in their somewhat prestigious accounting program.

This is where the shift began...

I joined an organization called Black Male Initiative focused on academics, networking, community service, & mentoring.

Through BMI, I began to finally view myself as a leader.

And landed my first internship with @CollegeWorksIL where I ran a $25k exterior painting business 😉

Running the painting business helped me grow tremendously because I was scared as shit and got outside my comfort zone.

I wasn’t ready to run a business. But I was willing to fail, if it meant learning in the process. And boy did I fail plenty 😅

During my Junior year of college, I honestly believed I couldn’t fail.

I literally got every scholarship I wanted, every job, and nearly every organizational position I wanted as well.

And I fulfilled my goal of landing an internship with one of the top accounting firms.

All while maintaining a 3.5 GPA 🤭

Then I joined the greatest fraternity in the world, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Became treasurer of our student association, handling $1.5 million in funds. (Yes I was bald, blame my pros 🙄)

and thought I was untouchable until...

I scored a D in my tax class, thus not allowing me to graduate.

And I had an internship, so I couldn’t take the class over the summer.

I also had a graduate assistantship lined up paying for my Masters in Accounting as well, that I had to forfeit.

I was at graduation like...

But I decided to pivot, get 150 credits so I could qualify to take the CPA exam.

And the following summer I passed all 4 CPA exams in 3 months..

Then started my career in public accounting.

Notice I never mentioned financial literacy...because I still lacked it.

But 2 months after my career began I decided to change my financial habits for the better. And the rest was history...

That I’m still writing so stay tuned and follow the blog 😌

infamouscpa.wordpress.com

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