Date: 01-19-06
To: Ms. Soomro
From: Ned Calkins
Subject: Introducing Yourself to Your Instructor
Background
I grew up in Kalamazoo, so I am very familiar with the surrounding areas and towns. I actually live in Comstock Township and attended Comstock Public schools. I spent my entire education in the Comstock school district finally obtaining my diploma in 2003. After graduation I attended Kalamazoo Valley Community College where I received my Associates degree in Business. Now I am in your class and a student at Western Michigan University where I am majoring in accounting.
My time outside of school is usually very busy as I work full time at the Target Distribution Center in Galesburg Michigan. When I am not at school or work I like to go golfing with my brother and dad. I also bowl on a league with some friends on Monday nights after school. Any other free time is spent with my family or friends usually just hanging out together and relaxing as my schedule is already busy enough.
Interests
I am a NASCAR fan so I enjoy racing, and watching the races on T.V. I have two uncles who race and now my cousins have gotten into racing too. I like to go watch my family race and help them work on the cars. I must admit that I just really help put tires on or load fuel, as I know very little about cars or racecars for that matter. I also like to golf and bowl. I am not really all that good at either sport but I do find something about bowling and golf that pleases me even when I really screw up.
I like to think about the future a lot and wonder what I will be doing 10 years from now. I some times think about what new products are going to come out, or what new gadget will sweep across the world.
The things that I enjoy talking about the most are past memories that I have or about upcoming events in my life. A lot of times I will talk to the people at work about whatever they bring up. If the subject matter is of something I know very little about I will ask questions to learn and grow as a person.
Achievements
The one achievement so far in my life that has given me the greatest personal satisfaction was being able to work full time and take four classes at Western in the fall semester of 2005. I not only took four classes but when I got my grades I was pleasantly surprised with a 3.88 GPA. Now I went to KVCC and did very well there, but this was the test to see if I could handle a real
Subject: Introducing Yourself to Your Instructor
Date: 01-19-06
Page 2
college as others have told me. Some of my other achievements that I am proud of would be the fact that I was able to buy a brand new truck, finish two years of college without getting into debt, starting my retirement fund, and trying to be a good older brother. My brother is a senior in high school and I have always tried to be a good role model for him. Both of us played high school football and I tried to set an example that you need to work hard to play and meet your goals as a high school athlete. My brother is by far the better athlete and I was proud to cheer him on this year as he and his team did a wonderful job in guiding the school to a conference and district championship. I was just glad that I could lay a small foundation for him build on, as he was able to grow so much this year as a person, student, and athlete.
Goals
I hope to get all A’s this semester at Western. I do not only want to get good grades but be able to put the knowledge I gain into real world situations when they come up.
One of my future goals is to continue putting money away for retirement as I plan to retire by the age of 50. I know that might seem outrageous to some but that is my goal and I will work as hard as I can to meet my goal. Another goal of mine is to be a business owner, I think owning my own accounting firm is what I would like to do some day. Five years from now I hope to be working for a credible company in the accounting department. I not only want to work in the accounting department but would like to oversee the department. My personal goals would be to own a house and live a comfortable life. I want to set my goals high, that way if I would happen to fall short I am already way up there. Hopefully my goals and dreams will not fade away like a distant memory but be bright like the afternoon sun.