Serena is a NINJA CPA Blogger.

Hi NINJAs,

Time for an update.

I’m a couple weeks into studying for FAR, taking a reprieve from REG. Our rematch will be later, but I must focus on FAR right now.

I have 6 weeks until I plan on sitting for FAR for the first time. I am giving this one my all. If I don’t pass FAR in April, I will lose my AUD score. So losing to FAR is NOT an option.

I also plan on having my rematch with REG in late April. Yes, I have my work cut out for me..

I don’t have a study program with videos; instead I am listening to the audio every chance I get, jotting notes down here and there, reading and re-writing my NINJA Notes, and mastering my flashcards, topic by topic.

After I master a topic in the flashcards, I start hitting the MCQs for that topic. I decided I needed to do it this way for FAR because there is one topic in particular that scares the crap out of me: Bonds.

Truth be told, I never really learned them in college because my professor didn’t like them, so we basically skipped that chapter. Probably the biggest injustice she could’ve done all of us. I realize now that she probably didn’t know them, so she couldn’t really teach them to us.

So I tackled this one head on. Got out my iPad with my NINJA flashcards, and ran through the bonds all weekend, until I mastered that topic. Then I got out my test bank and cranked through MCQs until I got a “passing” score. I kid you not, I spent hours upon hours on bonds this weekend.

Every time I got a question wrong, I would get my notebook out and walk through the explanation, actually studying every little piece of it and writing down every step from every angle in a way that would make sense to me.

At first it was so frustrating because I just did NOT understand ANYTHING about bonds… now I am more comfortable with them, but I know I still need to practice, so I will still go back to the flashcards every day and do a few MCQs to make sure it sticks.

Hopefully this approach works, because I am going to do the same with each topic I am especially uncomfortable with.

Well, time to get back at it!