CPA Exam Score Release Week

Score Result Week

The week all CPA candidates finally arrived, score release week.  There was so much hanging on this week for me.  My BEC exam was set to expire May 23, 2011. I took REG in April and AUD in May, two days before BEC expiration date.  Strangely I wasn’t nervous for this week to have finally arrived.  BEC and FAR were released on Monday, AUD on Tuesday and REG on Wednesday. 

New Mexico is a 24 hour online state so once I heard AUD had been released I refreshed the NASBA site non-stop.  The nervousness has finally set in, I stayed awake until midnight hoping that on refresh my passing score would appear.  Sleep got the best of me and I finally released my death grip on the mouse and went to bed.  The alarm was set for 5:30 and I was awake immediately. I hit refresh:

This is not what I wanted to see, a score lower then my last attempt.  Although I have struggled with AUD I had never received a score lower then any other attempt, my scores continued to creep closer to the 75 mark.  Not this time, down two points instead of going up the four I so desperately wanted. 

 

Emotional Roller Coaster

Wednesday was full of emotions, doubts, questions, disappointment.  With this failing score meant I also lost BEC, which was another mental and emotional blow. I couldn’t understand how I could have failed this time around.  I studied like I had never studied before, memorizing the material like never before, answering MCQ’s like they were going out of style.  The scores I was getting on the sections during studying were the best I had ever done. 

I knew that I wasn’t throwing in the towel, I just wanted answers to all the questions swimming in my head.  I needed answers for all the self doubt that begin to build up.  I needed to figure out how I was going to explain to my kids that mommy needed to start studying again because she can’t seem to get passed this exam.

I think out of all the things I thought about on Wednesday, my kids were on top of the list.  I have put so many things aside in order to get through this exam, as all the CPA exam candidates do, and my children’s self development has been one of them.  The month of June has been wonderful, the kids and I have done art projects, watched movies together, cooked together, jumped rope that I don’t want to put them on the back burner again.  Nathan, my middle son, has started soccer for the summer.  He LOVES it and I can’t miss his practice and games because out of the three kids, he yearns for my attention the most.

Not only was I worried about my kids, I also had REG on the back of my mind.  What if I don’t pass, then I will have three sections to take instead of two.  More study time, more time away from the kids, more stress.

I talked with my hubby Wednesday morning and during our lunch date and he assured me that we will figure it out, somehow we will get through this and I will pass.  I also talked with so many of my twitter friends, all going through the same struggle as I am.  They are also such a strong group of encourager’s.  I might have really worried them for a minute while I was tweeting, sounding like I was ready to give in.  Each one of them had such positive things to say and helped me to erase any self doubt that I had allowed to build up during the day.  I cried so much that day, first when I saw the score come up on the screen and then while I was talking with all my twitter friends.  The crying helped release all the frustration that I was feeling and it felt good to let it all go.

REG

Thursday morning I woke up early to check my score:

I am now 1/4 CPA and need to complete three sections of the exam.  When I saw the score, I had already released all of my frustration that seeing the score didn’t really have an effect on me.  I just had to figure out how I was going to pass three sections before May 29, 2012.

 Next Step

The next step for me is to figure out what I am doing wrong in my study strategy so that I never make the same mistake again. I am waiting for my official score results letter for REG to figure out what my week areas were so I can attach those.  I have already received my AUD official score letter and I know how to plan for that exam. I have decided to take AUD first, followed by REG, and leave BEC for last. A million THANKS goes out to all my twitter friends that helped keep my head on straight during Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  Who knows if I would have found the strength within myself to continue through to the end if it hadn’t have been for all the encouraging words from them and most importantly my hubby.  He is going through this emotional roller coaster ride with me, walking hand in hand through this journey in our life. 

Photo by: incurable_hippieon Flickr