Help in my goal from an unlikely source.

Yesterday I got my excess-funds distribution check from the school controller's office and took it to the bank. In the process, I learned a few valuable lessons about my end goal in life, which I'll summarize because my brain is a little too fried from marketing research, Gregorian chant, and Greek drama (not for the same class) to write any more coherently than that:

1. The University of Nevada-Reno (hereafter referred to as "UNR") offers a graduate-level program in accounting, and with a master's degree in hand I'll be able to sit the CPA exam directly out of grad school, which could give me the certification as early as the fall of 2013 (at age 36).
2. If I find work after getting my undergrad degree in 2012, I'll be able to make money while accumulating the experience required to sit the CPA exam via the undergrad-through-intern/apprentice route, which will take a bit longer since there's no way to accelerate a work-study program the way there would be to accelerate grad school (by taking more classes in less time).
3. I learned this from a longtime Bank of America employee who was a co-worker of mine at an earlier job. Getting stuck in to Corporate America too soon is a good way to end up getting sidetracked from the ultimate goal, as the needs of the company can stick in the way of the needs required to get that valuable CPA certification. The coworker I had told me that getting into bank management, while lucrative, cost him money in the long run, but when his employer said "here's your job responsibility" he wasn't in a position to quit and go back to school.

Mind you I won't have to make a decision one way or the other about grad school until the fall of 2011 at the earliest (at the start of my senior year as an undergrad), but this educational odyssey may end up taking a whole lot longer than I'd previously expected. On the bright side, however, the job market for CPAs is always a lively one, as it's a largely recession-proof job since every company needs qualified accountants just to keep the books balanced and the lights on. Depending on the company, the guy running the controller's office can make some serious coin. Like six figures serious. Even my pride has a price, and the corporate track is something to which I'm giving a very long look.

Besides my dislike for corporate grunt jobs that I've already discussed, I haven't really gone into my grand, crazy delusion about my dream job. I have an idea percolating in my head, but I'll save that one for tomorrow.