Work and School

Last Sunday I was unable to post because so much was going on. To share a little bit, yesterday I was able to finish a group project for my accounting course. This was a project that took many hours of compiling information and communication with the members of the group. Now, all that's left is the final!

WORK  This week has been full of new projects back at HOPE. I have been given assignments that will be longer term and require research. It's been interesting to see how the numbers correlate and tell the story of HOPE. I am currently working on an international Microfinance Institution (MFI) of HOPE and have been tasked to research and understand the local laws in concerns with banking ratios.

Some new terms and vocabulary I have been looking into have been:

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR): This is a ratio requirement of the amount of capital a bank must have reserved for "rainy days". Each nation may have different % requirements, however, the average is 8%.

This is very important as it acts as a protection from banks becoming insolvent if the economy were to crash. To get to the %, a bank must demonstrate to have different levels of capital, whether that is through selling of stocks or bonds, and how risky/liquid these may be.

Sovereign debt: Nope, it is not some kind of godly or religious debt (although I had certainly thought of it at first). Essentially, it's when a country sells bonds issued by the government to foreign countries/people.

It used to be considered a very safe debt, however, Greece has shown us otherwise. This is still a great source of revenue for stable economies and for investors.

It's been interesting to see international currencies and having to convert them in the manuals into USD. Because we work in developing countries, the risks of inflation and economic downfalls are very real. However, these risks are not things that deter the work we do.

Amidst the economic risks involved, individual lenders have shown great responsibility and care to pay back loans. This same disposition to stewardship is seen from the churches and loan officers in their professionalism to stay within governmental ratios as well as US regulations.

It has been exciting to finally put to practice all the theories and concepts learned at FIU. Although there is much learning I have acquired, the knowledge from my finance and accounting courses is paying off.

SCHOOL WORK  As mentioned earlier, I have one class left. However, considering the difficulty of the material and the fact that it is a half semester long class, it has been very tiring. Every day after work I come back to organize my room or do some dishes and then off to studying.

The project I was able to turn in yesterday takes a weight off my shoulders, however, that means I have a lot of catching up to do in concerns with the material.

This Saturday I will have my final exam and after that, I will officially be done with my undergraduate credits!

I have a scholarship that I am applying to for my master's degree and hope to win. I have already filled the application, however, I am waiting for FIU to fill out information regarding personal financial and all that fun stuff. Please pray that FIU sends the information necessary ASAP and that I may be able to be a recipient of the award.

PART-TIME JOB  Part-time job?? Yes!! Because we have Friday's free at HOPE and I will be done with my class, I took some time on Friday to apply to a few jobs. 16 to be exact.

I also applied to do front desk help with a couple hotels near HOPE, an ideal job because I would be able to go straight after HOPE.

Whatever may be the outcome, please pray for wisdom in choosing where I should work, as well as an a overall great workplace.

I leave this post with a great verse from Colossians. Chapter 3 is very interesting but I will only share verse 23:

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men

I also want to share a few pictures of the HOPE office as well as a hike the International Accounting team had this past Thursday.