Guest Blogger Sherri: In the Big Apple

Sherri shares with us her all-too-common story of losing credit for three parts previously earned due to the 18-Month Rolling Window. We think her perserverance and hopeful attitude will serve as an inspiration to all! Sherri has passed BEC, FAR, and AUD, and now embarks on the REG Exam preparation.

Hi All:

I still haven’t quite come down from the excitement of passing the Audit exam yet.  I did take a quick look at my textbook… then put it back down (in the bottom of my closet, in the dark, way way way in the back!).

I have resolved that I must take this month off of studying.  Because of the difficulty of passing this four part beast, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that more hours of studying equates to more quality hours of studying.  When I started the Roger CPA Review course, I knew that I had to change my way of thinking and my approach to this daunting task.     You may know the expression…  “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.”

Frankly, I was tired of “getting what I always got!" The Roger program helped me to pass the FAR exam and gave me the confidence to pass AUD as well.  Changing programs actually changed my results!

It can be difficult to change the way you study, what you study,  where you study…..  even if you haven’t been successful.  I know that I am a creature of habit.  I convinced myself that if I only studied longer and harder, concentrated more, that my existing plan would carry me through.  Wow… I was so wrong!

It wasn’t until I failed FAR twice that I was able to see and to  accept  the fact that mere additional study hours  alone weren’t the answer.  I had to take a long, hard, look at how I learned the best.  I analyzed my situation, looked back on times when I had been very successful in school and successful in passing other CPA exams.  Logic told me that I should be able to pass the exam.  I was fifth in my class in college and finished  my masters and accounting coursework with an A average.   The repeated failures of FAR, however, caused me to question myself and to doubt what I could do.  I actually had people tell me that “perhaps a student in college, who is younger, and who has less life pressure of work and family, is better able to succeed at this quest than a CPA candidate mom, who has been in the work world and out of school  for more than 10 years.” Those words, though not said with the intent to offend, fueled a fire in me that caused me to make a quantum leap in my CPA studies.

I will be forever grateful to the Roger CPA program for giving me my confidence back!

If you aren’t passing a given part or parts of the CPA exam, take some time to analyze your own situation.  Think about the study environment that produces success for you and about  the type of learner that you are (i.e. visual or verbal). Determine how to change what you are doing so that you “don’t get what you always got”.

I bet by now that you are wondering, what on earth does all of this have to do with New York City and the Big Apple?   (Nothing at all really!)

I’m here in New York this week for work, enjoying a wonderful break from my studies.  I’m relishing the busy, hectic environment that is so different from my home in Austin, Texas.    I’m working really hard, but have gotten to enjoy some truly  amazing food and see some pretty terrific things.    It was such a treat to watch all of the excited fans pour out of Madison Square Garden last night after watching  New York and New Jersey battle it out in the hockey rink.  The spirit and enthusiasm of  New York and New Jersey sports fans is pretty difficult to beat!

I’ll end my post this week by encouraging all of you to find your enthusiasm.  Remember to take a healthy break from studying.   Make those study hours quality hours!

The CPA exam is a vehicle to get you where you want to be in your career…. but  YOU are driving the bus.

See you next week.

Sherri