Week 1:

In previous years, I have heard many things about this unit, The Accountant as a Consultant. The most pleasing thing I heard was that there is no final exam. Before attending the first lecture, I downloaded the learning guide and had a quick read so I was to have a brief understanding of what the unit consisted of. I was delighted to find that what I had heard from fellow students was actually correct, that there is no exam. Knowing this, I had now formed the assumption that this subject was going to be a breeze, that it wouldn’t require much time or effort to pass.
However, after attending the first lecture, I found out just how wrong my assumptions were. Gloria discussed that because there was no final exam, the markers would expect more from students. I found this daunting, yet I was still very excited about the unit and the major assessment, the business plan (BP). I also found out that this would be a group assessment. Having conducted many group assessments throughout my course, most of these assessments ended with me taking on other peoples work and once, doing the entire assessment on my own and therefore, this had me worried. However, Dorothea quickly moved on to say that a large chunk of the assessment was individual within the group work. This had me a little relieved, yet still very worried.
In this first lecture, Gloria revealed that reflective journals were also required of us to make up the last 30% of our assessment mark. This was the only part of the unit that I was not looking forward to as my weakest subject in school was always English and the fact that I must discuss what I believed and what I had done on a weekly basis did not appeal to me.
Personally, I was very much against the idea of opening a new business prior to beginning this unit. The reasons for this were highlighted by Dorothea in the first lecture. In this lecture, Dorothea discussed creativity, entrepreneurship and risk taking. Dorothea discussed the importance of creativity for entrepreneurs but in general, I am not a creative person. I usually discover the norm and observe what others do, then pick and choose what I like. My lack of creativity and mainly, because I am risk averse, is why I would never open my own business. I generally tend to make sure that something isn’t too risky before partaking in that certain activity and my view doesn’t change when concerning businesses. I knew that this would be a major issue for me and my group and quickly thought of factors that would reduce risk, with the most obvious being capital. Yet I still thought to myself, how would we achieve this?
During the first tutorial, we were asked to form groups of 4 people for our BP. Not knowing anyone in my class, it was convenient for me that I had 3 guys seated in the first 2 rows in front of me. We turned to each other and without speaking a word, we all nodded and simultaneously agreed to form a group. After moving to a single table, the other members introduced themselves to be Marvian, Alex and Andrew. We only had about 10 minutes to for groups and introduce ourselves, so we have not discussed much about what we would like to do regarding the BP. But we did discuss what our expectations were from the unit and what marks we would all achieve and I found that we all wanted to do well. We all agreed that our main priority was to pass, yet we also agreed that we could achieve more and that we should aim for a Distinction.
Overall, I am happy with the first week. I have a general understanding of what is expected of us from this unit. However, I am also aware of the challenges this unit possess and although it worries me, I believe that I am capable of succeeding. I am also very happy with the group I have been set with. Although we have not discussed much regarding the BP and although we didn’t have much time to meet, I believe that we are all motivated and have so far gotten along well with no trouble. After meeting my group, I am excited