[art vandalay]

Mind the length of this post, but I just wanted to post my experience for the past 15 months.

I will preface by stating that I began working in a small public accounting firm in November 2011. I started the CPA exam journey in May of 2013, by taking the BEC exam. I did absolutely horrible (49). I don’t think that I truly understood what I was getting into. I had screwed up registering for the exams and signed up for 3 at once. So I took FAR in August 2013 and did terrible (59), what was I doing wrong? Next I tried a BEC re-take in October 2013, I tried harder, but really struggled on the MCQ and got a 62, which was a 13 point increase and showed that I can do it. I decided to switch gears and took AUD in November 2013 and I thought I did fairly well and was completely blown away when I got a 62. I was devastated. I immediately signed up for a retake in January 2014 and once again walked out of the exam thinking I finally did it and got a 65! WTF! I didn’t know where to go next, so I decided to take all of tax season off from the exam and finish up my Master’s degree in accounting, which I did this past May.

My wife and I had our first child in early May of this year. What an incredible and life-changing experience. Knowing that I had finished school was a great feeling, but the thought of 4 exams looming over my head was awful. How could I study and figure all of this out with a newborn? I decided in June that I wanted to give it another crack. But I didn’t wanna spend time away from my wife and son, so I had to figure out the studying part. I began studying in mid-june for AUD again. I decided that I was not going to stress out about this exam as much as possible and really try to hone in on the material. I went through all of the lectures again, and did all of the multiple choice. I read NINJA notes whenever the baby was sleeping. Studied at work when it was slow. I did MCQ on my ipad in bed. I thought about the exam but I didn’t let it take over my life. I tried to beat in my head that it’s just a test, and pass or fail I am still fortunate to have a supporting family.

I focused really hard on my weak areas one week leading up to the exam. I took the exam on Thursday 8/14. We then went on vacation for a week in Rhode Island and I refused to check my score, as I didn’t want it to ruin our vacation. At night though I would wonder what would happen if I failed. I would be 0-7 in exams and thinking of a possible new career as to not continue torturing myself. We got home on Saturday 8/23, unpacked and went to the computer for the result. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. An 86!!!! My wife cried and I cried (then the baby cried sad tears haha). What a feeling! Now that I know it’s possible I am now motivated more than ever. I am going to take a couple of weeks off then will be looking to tackle BEC again in the 4th quarter and continue on in this journey. Pass or fail, I won’t give up.

Again, sorry for the length of this post, but this website has helped me so much, that I wanted to share a little of my experiences thus far. For those of you that read this, there are a lot of other success stories on here with far greater circumstances that I have read to keep me motivated. If you’re struggling, don’t give up. Maybe just re-think how you can improve your studying! It feels good now, but I am only ¼ of the way done. See ya in the BEC Study group thread in the 4th quarter