With Your Mind and Will, You CAN!
I was enrolled in the bridging program of Chiang Kai Shek College when I passed the 2-Part CMA examination. It was in August 2016, and our professor merrily congratulated us for a job well done and achieving what others can only dream of: An international certification. We were very ecstatic at that time because we finally reaped the fruits of our hardships and sacrifices in the past year.
Little did we know that it was only a start of a more dreadful and arduous journey to the coveted CPA title.
It was also during that semester that we had to juggle internship and the demands of our Integrated Accounting subjects (IAC). The semester was full of tears, sweat, sleepless nights, and the constant reprimands of our professor to take her subject very seriously. I was constantly complaining of how tough to balance studying for the exams and the 200-hour internship. Some subjects were sacrificed for us to make time to study for our board exam subjects. I was doing everything possible, but for some reason, it was not enough. I failed to realize that if this was the beginning, how can I even fathom to make it through until the end? I turned to God and asked for forgiveness for all the precious time I wasted; sought guidance to help us all pass the semester; and acceptance for anything that awaits us in the end.
With God’s grace, I passed the bridging course and graduated on May 2017.
Come June 2017, I made a promise that there will be no more wasted time and energy and I would devote myself to pass the coming CPA board exam. I enrolled in a review center and took review classes from June to September. The classes were not particularly tough, sans Taxation and Regulatory Framework for Business Transactions.
I passed both the first and the final preboard and was confident that I can also pass the actual board exam. However, as the board exam looms, anxiety and uneasiness crept in. I lost confidence, occasionally threw up, and studied the wrong materials. As what T.E. Lawrence said, “To me, an unnecessary action, or shot, or casualty, was not only a waste but a sin”. I made a mistake of losing my composure and not sticking to the study plan I made, and wasted time again instead of studying for the subjects I am weak at.
The day before the board exam, I cried and prayed silently to God to ask for forgiveness again for all the intangible resources I wasted; and acceptance for whatever the results may be.
The actual board exams were very tough and challenging, especially the two dreaded subjects of Taxation and Regulatory Framework for Business Transactions. A simple mistake, in aggregate, could potentially cost you the CPA license.
After the board exams, I prayed hard again, but felt sorry because I was very greedy of what I was wishing for – all of my batchmates to pass the board. This time was the most difficult time of my life yet because of the sheer anxiety and nervousness it dealt not only me, but all of us.
November 3, the results came out. And with the congratulatory posts. Posts of victory and triumph over the most difficult exam of our life. It was very surreal, almost dreamlike. It was the culmination of our 5-year long journey, and at last, the CPA title is within our grasp.
As Sir Francis Drake once said, “There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.”
For all the aspiring CPA candidates, I only have this to say, as what Henry Ford once said, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right”.
About the Author:
Harvey Christian B. Sumagaysay is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and a CMA passer. He graduated from University of Santo Tomas with a degree of Management Accounting, and finished the bridging program in Chiang Kai Shek College with a degree of Accountancy. He is currently working as an audit associate in one of the top auditing firms in the Philippines.
