Search This Blog

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Introduction to Brady the Accountant

Hi everyone, my name is Brady Justice. I am from McAlester, Oklahoma, which is about two hours east of Norman. McAlester is home to fantastic, authentic Italian food from restaurants like Pete's Place, Roseanna's, Isle of Capri, and more. If you ever pass through town I would recommend a stop at Roseanna's as it is my personal favorite! We are also home to the state penitentiary, unfortunately. Key decision makers in McAlester elected to house the prison rather than Southeastern Oklahoma State University which was eventually built in Durant, Oklahoma instead. The thinking at the time was a prison would provide jobs for locals where a university would bring in jobs for people outside of McAlester. It was not the best forward thinking...

Anyway, that is a bit about where I come from. Here at OU I am studying Accounting. I am in the final semester of study of my undergraduate, which I will have completed in three years! It does not seem real that it is almost over already, but I am proud of myself for working hard to get done two semesters early.

Initially I had not planned to be an accountant. I hopped around from International Business, to Entrepreneurship, to Finance, and eventually ended up at Accounting. The job security and opportunity to advance within a company were appealing to me. I am considering going to law school, but one way or another I plan to work for a couple years and get my CPA certification beforehand.

I enrolled in Mythology and Folklore for a handful of reason. First, I heard great reviews about Professor Gibbs. Second, I need one more upper division elective. Finally, I find mythology quite interesting because several of my friends and I play a game called Smite. It features 100 gods and goddesses from Greek, Roman, Hindu, Chinese, Japanese, Norse, Voodoo, Slavic, Egyptian, Celtic, Mayan, and Polynesian pantheons. It wasn't until I started to learn about these gods and goddesses that I realized how often they are referenced to this day. For example, China launched a spacecraft intended to land on the moon. It was called the Chang'e 4. I knew from playing Smite that Chang'e is the Chinese goddess of the moon! I've enjoyed making these connections from my limited knowledge from a silly video game I play with friends, so I thought I would enjoy taking a class about Mythology and Folklore to learn more.

(Almost all of the gods and goddesses in Smite - Latin American Pride)
The picture above features almost all of the gods and goddesses in Smite. Right above the logo you can find Zeus, and in the bottom right corner you will see Chang'e who I referenced earlier. Just to the right of the logo you see Thor, and his brother Loki, and father Odin are also pictured! In the game there is a tab where you can find the lore and history of each of the gods and goddesses.

I hope you all have a great semester.

19 comments:

  1. I've never heard of McAlester Oklahoma but if I ever drive by I will definitely stop at Roseanne's. I love italian food (who doesn't love bread, cheese, and pasta?). My sister is also an accounting major! What a coincidence. I think that is a really cool reason to become interested in mythology. I had never heard of Smite but it seems really interesting. Best of luck with the semester!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, Brady, that is really impressive about finishing in just 3 years... especially since most people don't actually finish in 4 years; the university mostly reports 6-year graduation rates because so many people take 5 or 6 years to finish. We need some new vocabulary to keep up with how things work now... along with some special word for early-bird graduates like you! Congratulations! And you know I am excited to see how Smite connects up with any of the stories you are telling for class: that kind of game experience is going to give you all kinds of ideas for twists and turns in the plots I am sure. Maybe you will even learn about Twine and how to make your own story/game... if you have some spare time, you could give it a try; I made some Twine games in this class last semester, and it was so much fun! Twine Tech Tips

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello, Brady!

    That's super awesome that you get to graduate a year early! I totally wish I could be done with college in three years. It's cool to know that McAlester has authentic Italian food. I am quite partial to Italian food and would like to try Roseanna's if I ever had the chance. I like how you incorporated Smite into your Introduction. That seems like such a fun way to learn about all the gods and goddesses! Have fun this semester!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey, Brady!

    Congrats on finishing in only three years! There is no way I could have done this--I was happy to finish in four! I am from Oklahoma, as well (Edmond) and have heard of McAlester but have never been there. I would never have thought that there would be great Italian restuarants there, but now that I know I will definitely be stopping by if I get the chance! Italian food is by far my favorite. Also, Smite looks like a really interesting and fun game--can't believe I have never heard of it before!

    Good luck with your last semester and beyond!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Brady,

    It was great to read through your introduction. I have been to Mcalester, but I had no idea that the Italian food was so good. I will definitely have to check it out in the near future. I think it is awesome that you are an accounting major graduating so early. Congrats to you and best of luck in this class and in the future.

    -Andy

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey, Brady!

    Congrats on the early graduation! I hope you're able to enjoy your final days at OU before getting out into the real world. I never got into Smite, but I played a good amount of League of Legends which also features some mythological characters (e.g. Wukong). It's neat to see the way that myths can influence popular culture.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Brady!
    Major props for finishing school early, even with a couple of changes to your major. I bet you're excited to have a degree and start exploring your field more!
    I've been to McAlester a couple of times for work, and I'm pretty sure I've been to Roseanna's! I had the lasagne - it was pretty good.
    Good luck with your last semester!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Brady! I love math and I love budgeting and planning with money so I feel like in another life I should have been an accounting major like you! Sadly, as a mechanical engineering major I don't even have to take introductory economics classes. I am a little disappointed by that but I can always learn outside of college about economics.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey hey Brady!! you've changed your major a lot, but every major you've tried has been finance related, how much crossover was there between those majors? You also say that your town has recently built a prison? Say hi to my brother while you're there, there's bound to be at least one of them in there. Do you play any other MOBAs? What are your thoughts on machine learning algorithms learning to beat pros?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Brady! I never knew that about McAlester before, it's super interesting but as you said, not the best forward thinking. It's also cool to know that they have so many great italian places! It's always a treasure to find good international food in Oklahoma (which I know doesn't happen a lot). Your major is definitely a good one. I know a lot of accounting majors, my mom is one too, and there's always careers ready for you guys. How impressive that you're able to graduate in three years! Congrats! And best of luck on your job prospects. I also really love that you were inspired to take this class because of a game. Everyone has different interests, and it is really fun to meet such a diverse group of students on here! Many other students took this for the upper division credit, and it is so refreshing to meet people with such a diverse range of interests. Looking forward to reading your stories this semester!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello, Brady!

    Personally, the city of McAlester, Oklahoma is one of those cities that I hear about but never really visit or discuss in depth. I am honestly surprised to hear that McAlester is home to authentic Italian food. Do you guys have a large Italian or Italian-American population over there? Congrats on being able to finish your undergraduate career in three years!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey Brady!
    From one graduating third year to another, welcome to the end of the road! Your degree isn't too far from my own - accounting is a lot of math, after all. I've considered going into auditing as a field, so maybe I'll end up in your ballpark soon enough.
    Smite seems really interesting! I've never been much of a MOBA player, but knowing who the characters are (gods) makes the game more compelling the play.
    Good luck here at the end!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Brady,

    It was fun reading more about you after coming from two of your stories. This intro post gave me some good insight as to what kind of a writer you may be and why! I'm also a fellow gamer and have played Smite. It wasn't my favorite, but hopefully it could serve as a launchpad in your reading and/or writing about the gods and goddesses from the myths in this course.

    Best of luck!

    -Lance J.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Brady, it's super cool to see someone from McAlester, Oklahoma! I am from Broken Arrow, OK, but I know some people from there, and I've driven through it many times before! I am not necessarily a HUGE gamer, but I do enjoy playing video games on the side whenever possible here in college. I am a big Nintendo games guy and I play FIFA and Final Fantasy games as well. Big congrats on graduating a year early! I'm sure that's not easy! Good luck in the workforce, dude!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Brady,

    I really admire your drive and dedication, I can't believe you'll be graduating after only three years! Congratulations! Smite sounds really interesting. This class should be a great opportunity to lean about the mythological characters in the game! Accounting seems like a good career choice, people always need accountants. I hope you enjoy it! Good luck, I look forward to reading more of your stories!

    -Kate

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Brady!

    Congrats on making it to your last semester and finishing a year early! That's a huge accomplishment. I wish you the best of luck with your career after graduation and possibly law school. That's pretty cool that Smite connects so well with this class. It sounds like playing Smite is probably a pretty useful experience in this class where you have to read and talk about so many different cultures' mythology and gods and goddesses. Good luck with your last semester!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Brady, so cool to learn about you and your hometown. I definitely need to visit just for the Italian food alone! Accounting sounds like such a rewarding major. I've never heard of Smite but it looks super cool. I love that it includes gods and goddesses from different backgrounds. Might have to check it out. Hope you have a great rest of your semester.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hey Brady,

    As a fellow fan of Smite myself I really enjoyed seeing another gamer in the class. I haven't played it in a while but reminisce on the times that I used to as there were many late nights. Great job on graduating in 3 years, I wish I could do that but unfortunately I can't with my double major. Hope you have a great rest of the semester.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Brady, it was really great getting to know you some through your introduction post. I think it is so cool that we are able to interact even though we are in two separate classes (I'm in Indian Epics). I think it is cool that having an online class like this allows us to do that. Again, it was great getting to know you some and the best of luck to you on your future endeavors.

    ReplyDelete