Let me start by saying that 2008 was a blast for me. I graduated, enrolled myself in a review class for the board exams, and.. we're getting way ahead here. Let's talk about the review and the exams first since I dedicated this page for the sole reason of having a daily journal for said endeavor (and that really went well, eh?).
The Review in Retrospect
I took the review classes last May (I think) and I accomplished it on the 1st week of October. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I mean, I was just going to REview and REapply every single theory I learned from college. I was unbelievably wrong. I actually (slightly ) feared the program because I wasn't very good in college. Much to my surprise, I didn't improve much in the review either. Lol. But yes, we did RElearn evrything, albeit 500x faster.
slacked off A LOT too. I (almost) became too complacent on the fact that exactly the same content would reappear on the exam (boy was I wrong). Had I not taken said classes, I would never have had the aptitude (and intestinal fortitude) to tackle the board. I mean people who take said exam immediately after graduation are either insanely smart or insanely rich. I didn't happen to fall on either category.
I had to register to be able to take the exams. The worst part was having to get my police clearance. I got 'hit', lost my receipt and I ultimately had to find and clear my own records. It took me three months (I had to take my classes so I barely had time for it) to accomplish this feat. Good thing my father was lawyer. He just barged right in and had me cleared in a DAY. I raged at that.
Anyway, I was beat up during the review. I didn't have many friends to study with (which I realized later was a good thing) and everyday I spent on it was crazily exhausting. I broke my exercise routine and failed my diet standards which subsequently led to my poor performance on said daily activity. I accomplish very little when I study with my friends. I found myself chatting all the time when I did and although it did relieve my stress a bit, it would be automatically offset when I see how much progress they've made compared to mine. It wasn't all negative though.
Even if some of the materials were new, I found most of them to be easy and I eagerly absorbed and (hopefully) mastered those I found to be daunting during college (e.g. lease, standard costing, business combination). They were quite easy pala to be honest. Most of my reviewers were great people. I found my Business Law reviewer, Atty. Janet Fabrero, to be the best and most inspiring followed closely by Sir Pol (MAS) and Sir Sailadin (Audit Theory).
God was my constant companion (well, almost constantly) during this period. I prayed with everything I had everytime I got the chance and I surrendered everything to Him. I would have never been able to do all this had it not been for His love.
The Board
Judgment day. Almost 200-300 people tops took the exams in Davao. It was held in the UM campus and I was lucky enough to have been given a good seat.
I was taken aback by the contents of the exams during the first day (TOA, BLT) because every question that came out of the test sheets was alien to me. But I held on to my seat, persevered and (barely) finished it all on time. On my way home, I was almost oblivious to everything I was doing because I couldn’t take my mind off the experience. I realized that the exams were not something to be messed with. So, with that new found wisdom, I geared myself for the next day.
Surprisingly after that, the questions came a little bit easier and I gained more momentum that in every test set I finished, I was postive that I would do well (except Prac 1). The only thing that kept me going was my constant conversations with God on how grateful I was to have been given the opportunity to experience all of this. Still, the stress took a toll on me.
Thus everything was done and every cost was sunk.
October 20, Verdict
I slept well on the day of the last test set. I didn't think of the results too much. I just prayed (really hard) and hoped for the best. Morning came and I (suddenly) became frantic. I wanted to do a lot of things to keep my mind off the results so I surfed the net and went to church. I wasn't as productive as I thought I would be.
I went to church at 5 p.m. and amazingly, I found someone to talk to. He was my friend during high school (we were orators) and he's a Redemptorist seminarian now. We caught up with each other's lives and before I knew it I received an SMS from my friend. I was anxious because I though to myself 'This was it!'. To my surprise, the message did not come from a co-reviewee nor a classmate. It was Gail. She said I passed the exam. I asked again. She confirmed it. I texted my friends and they did likewise.
I asked my companion if I could have a moment to call my mother and I ran outside the church, jumped around, bought some cell phone credits and called my mum. It was almost cloud 9. But happiness is abruptly fleeting because some of my close friends weren't able make it.
Aftermath
I came home and was congratulated by my parents. A slew of text messages came in and I was thankful for that. But I was most grateful to God. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment