My Remarkable CMA Journey
Truly, the best things come when you least expect them to. My journey to CMA is really an unpremeditated and an unexpected one, but I cannot repudiate for a second that becoming the first SPCian to pass the Certified Management Accountant Examinations is one of the momentous and the most remarkable I have ever accomplished.
My voyage started when God sent an Angel in disguise granting me a scholarship for the CMA Program last December. It was an early Christmas gift from Him. At first I thought it was a hoax, but soon I realized that it was not, thus I grabbed it immediately.
Pressure hovered all around my whole being because I did not want to fail Sir Angel, the Director of Insights Financial Review Services, who approved assistance for the course. I gathered straightaway all review materials I could use for the exams together with the resources Insights provided me. It was Christmas Seasons and on Christmas Day itself, I was supposed to relax and enjoy, but I chose to linger with my pen and calculator, and train for the battle with them. The same was the scenario during the New Year’s Day. January made me as busy as a bee; I ought to attend review classes in Insights during Sundays where I needed to travel all the way from the province. I had a tough time dividing myself between school and review since I needed to be physically and mentally present in school activities, take term quizzes and exams, and accomplish the thesis which was the most time consuming of all. The bags under my eyes became luggages because of sleepless nights. The only side effect I loved was the loss of the flabs in my stomach which I kept for years.
My Part 1 exam schedule was on Feb. 21st. I was utterly devastated on that day, not because the exam was difficult. I was not allowed by Prometric Testing Center proctor to take the exam because, according to her, my IDs were “not acceptable”. Having appealed the matter to IMA, I was then permitted to take Part 2 on Feb. 26th. Unfortunately, rescheduling Part 1 became tough though, for no single date in the remaining days in February was available in Prometric Makati. The only option left was to fly and schedule it in Cebu. With the help of Insights, Part 1 Exam was rearranged in Cebu and I was able to take it.
Waiting for the results was the most heart throbbing times for me. I found Part 1 more difficult than Part 2, and I felt really uneasy about it. I kept on praying, and offering and writing requests in the Carmelite Monastery so that the Dear Sisters there would pray for me as well, believing that they are closer to God than I am. God didn’t fail me. He never did. All sacrifices and hard works pay off as I received the confirmation for passing both parts of the CMA Exams. It was like, “Hey I’m ready to die. Shoot a gun on me. Wait– NO! Not yet!” It was a mixture of contentment and anticipation. Hooray!
The road was not really a rough one for me. It was just deceiving due to the circumstances, but the fact isn’t. Maybe because I’ve got the best people behind who pushed me, supported me, motivated and inspired me to keep striving. I would like to take this opportunity to send my deepest gratitude to each of them.
First, my enormous thanks to Insights specifically to Sir Angel for believing in my capabilities, for granting me the scholarship, for providing all the materials I needed, and for assisting me all throughout this journey.
Second, I would like to show appreciation to San Pablo Colleges, its Board of Trustees, for the Academic Scholarship they have given believing that I deserve to enjoy its privileges. I was able to study and finish my degree in Accountancy for free almost. Thank you SPC for developing me as a total person.
Third, my acknowledgement to Dean Olivia Oabel and to all my Professors especially Sir Rene Belen for being so supportive and considerate when I failed to comply on time with your class requirements, and for allowing me to be excused in all classes due to the Examinations, for enriching my mind not only with the subject matter, but also with values and ideals.
Fourth, my huge thanks to my Family – my parents and siblings (particularly to Kenneth and Kristina) for taking care of me, for the love and assistance you have tendered.
Fifth, thanks to all my friends and classmates, mainly for the moments where you made me laugh and somehow forget the weights in life.
Next, my sincerest thanks to Alfredo Belen, Jr., for the love, care, and support you’re giving, for helping me in becoming prepared for the Exams in all aspects, and for the inspiration. Thank you for bringing out all the best in me.
I would also like to thank everyone who had prayed in behalf of me for the success of the Exams, and for believing and reminding me that I am capable of accomplishing it. I thank you for being certain that I am worthy for all these blessings.
And of course, the greatest thanks to the Lord our God, the provider of everything. Thank You Lord for all the blessings even though I know that I do not deserve most of these, for the wisdom, for Your guidance, for staying by my side, for listening and answering my prayers. You never fail me, Oh Lord despite my iniquities and shortcomings.
Someone always tells me, “Everything that has a beginning has an end.”, but let me just add, that for every ending is a new beginning. May this be a constant reminder to everyone, that no matter how sorrowful and devastating, or successful and prosperous the ending of each story in our life is, there is always a room to start over to correct the mistakes we have committed, to stand up and try again despite the failures, to improve ourselves by learning from our experiences, to aspire more and dream bigger, to achieve and accomplish our goals which are to be set higher, to continue the good deeds and not end them, but end those which made us uncomfortable and made us unworthy of ourselves and what we have, to never give up and lose hope, and to always have faith to the Lord our God. As quoted from Thomas A. Edison, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
My CMA Exams have just ended, and my collegiate days as I marched to get my College Diploma. My journey to this destination is not a smooth sailing one, as I doubt if there is any such thing. It will always be a mixture of sweetness and bitterness. But as it ends, another chapter of my life begins. Lies ahead of me are more challenges, trials, and hardships, but I know that this is just the perfect time to assimilate all learnings and knowledge I have gained for the last 20 years, in order to taste the sweetness of the success and great triumph God placed when He made the master plan of my life. I will never stop praising God for all His works. I know like Steve Rogers said to Bucky Barnes /The Winter Soldier, God is also saying, “I am with you ‘til the end of the line.”
Once again, I’m extending my appreciation and gratitude to God and to all the people who have been a part of my journey, and will always be. Thank you so much!
