Serena is a weekly NINJA CPA Blogger.

Picking up where I left off last week, I had given up studying two weeks before taking BEC.

I didn’t tell any friends, coworkers, or family (other than the ones I live with) that I was taking my second section of the exam, because I didn’t think I would pass. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Maybe.

I got my scores back and… Score: 72 Result: FAIL. Do they really have to put it in all caps? OUCH! But I take full responsibility for that score, and realize that if I had buckled down that last two weeks, I may have been able to add those last 3 points to my score.

Since that NTS was now expired I applied for a new one and decided to keep studying that section and take it again while what I did manage to learn was still fresh. I continued with the study material I had for BEC, but this time around about two weeks before my test date I still didn’t feel quite prepared. So I bought the BEC NINJA Audio and Flashcards to supplement the other study material I wasn’t impressed with and also supplemented with a $20 MCQ iPhone app to study on the go.

I listened to the audio every moment I could. In the morning while getting ready for work, on the 20 minute commute to and from work, and in the evenings while cooking dinner. That’s at least an hour and a half’s worth of study time daily I didn’t think I had before.

One Saturday I accomplished sanding and staining my Adirondack chairs while listening to the audio as well. My neighbors must have thought I was crazy blasting that over the stereo so I could hear it while outside. One full day of work I listened to the audio while doing some “housekeeping-type” tasks that were pretty mindless.

I picked up a tip from another NINJA on here that listens during work and writes little fact-nuggets throughout the day on post-its. I would stop what I was doing and write down any formulas or fact-nuggets that I needed to visualize. At home I used the flashcards in between answering MCQ questions on my study material (because the software took so long to load each question).

I walked into the test center pretty confident after all that hard work, and I am hoping it all paid off. Now the wait begins for the score, but no time to spare for studying. On to REG!

Now stop slacking and get back to studying, NINJAs! Talk to you next week!