Taylor is a NINJA CPA Blogger using NINJA Only
My name is Taylor, and I have a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Accounting from the Florida Institute of Technology, and I have a Master’s in Forensic Accounting from Liberty University. I was born and raised in Florida, and my husband and I currently live in Melbourne, FL, with our 11-month-old blue merle chihuahua puppy.
I have previously worked at a local CPA firm in Melbourne, FL as an accountant in their business advisory department. I currently work in benefits accounting at L3Harris. When I worked at the CPA firm in 2021, I started my journey with the CPA Exam with the full Becker review course. While the videos and studying were tedious at times, I still pushed forward and felt comfortable and ready for the exam.
I still remember finishing the exam with no time remaining and just walking out of that testing center feeling completely defeated. I walked in feeling like I was going to pass with no problem, and I left the exam center questioning my career in accounting and wondering if I should continue my studies. When I got my score back, I realized I had failed my first attempt.
After a few days of grieving and getting back into studying, I studied for my second attempt. I felt this attempt might be better since I now know what to expect on the exam. A few weeks later, I got back into the exam room and felt more confident this time around, like I passed with no problem. A few weeks later, I got my score back and passed by one point. A pass is a pass, and I went on to study for the AUD section.
I felt like maybe I studied too long on FAR, so this time I decided to speed up the process and only focus on the areas of auditing I felt like I was struggling with and didn’t understand. I studied for about a month and booked my exam. I have always done better in auditing, so I thought this would be easier. I was quickly proven wrong when time got the best of me, and I didn’t even get to finish the exam in the allotted time.
A few weeks later, I got my results, and I failed. I felt like I knew what I did wrong and realized I should mainly focus on the simulations instead of the multiple-choice questions. I studied for 2 more weeks and back into that exam room I went. A few weeks later, I got my results, and I failed again. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing wrong. I felt extremely discouraged and took some time off from studying. So much money and time was spent on those attempts and I still kept failing.
After doing some research, I realized that maybe it isn’t that I’m not meant to be a CPA, but maybe I need to utilize a different study tool or tactic. I came across Ninja CPA a few years before I even began studying for the exams. I went with Becker CPA review initially because I got a deal through the company I was currently working for, and that was what everyone was using. I look back and realize that if I had started off with Ninja, I could have passed all four sections by now.
Fast forward to almost 18 months later, and I will have to retake FAR and start from scratch. Sometimes everything happens for a reason, and I have made the decision to put Becker aside and use only Ninja CPA for my study materials. I took a long break from studying and am now ready to jump back into studying and am determined to pass all four sections by the end of 2023. I look forward to holding myself accountable and writing each week about my studies and having you all join along throughout my CPA Exam journey.
NINJA Blogger
Taylor D.
