Patrick is a NINJA CPA Blogger.

Last Wednesday, we gathered on the carpet of our still-empty living room to watch Victor unwrap his birthday presents.

Amidst the Legos, Hotwheels, and necessities that parents pass-off as gifts, was a small box, about an inch cubed.

Victor pulled out a folded-up sticky note with the number, 87, written on it – my REG score.

I wrote in my first post that this exam is more of an ocean to be crossed than a mountain to be climbed. I was half-right. It was more like a desert and I keep asking myself “What now? What next?”

Here is what I’ve sacrificed over the last 18 months:

• Thousands of dollars.

 

• Hundreds of hours with my kids. They are worse-off because of this.

 

• Opportunity cost of devoting all of my mental energy toward the exam, instead of material that is more stimulating, and more relevant to my job.

 

• Marital Stress.

 

• I have not supported my friends the way I should.

 

• Guilt. It’s hard to enjoy yourself, when you know you should be studying.

 

• I spent 2% of my life studying for this exam!

 

I don’t write this to discourage anyone but to emphasize, this is not a commitment to be taken casually. The greater your investment, the longer the recovery period, so make your study time count. There is no substitute for hard work.

Read more NINJA CPA Exam Success Stories on the Blog and Another71 Forum.