Became a Chartered Accountant after 12 years Gap

The date was January 23rd, 2019. It wasn't just any other regular day, on this day the CA Final Nov 2018 attempt results were to be announced. Even though I knew about the D-day, I was anxious. I was awaiting my CA Final results. 

When the clock struck 4.30 pm, the results were declared. With a little nervousness and some excitement, I entered my details to check my result. Just as I submitted my details, the screen in front of me refreshed displaying the 4-letter magical word - 'PASS'.  Oh! I can't express enough how overwhelmed I was at that moment. I jumped with joy. What I had started in 1999 took 20 long years to complete. Yes, 20 long years after which I still finally  earned  the prestigious title of Chartered Accountant

I am from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. My dreams took its first flight in the year 1999 when I cleared my CA foundation exams. After which, I started my practical training/Articleship and cleared my CA Intermediate exam in the year 2002. At that time it used to be CA Intermediate, today it is called CA IPCC. Everything was going as per the career plan but then like it is not everything goes according to the plan. I registered for my CA final but I could not pursue it.. I got married and then I had my son. I was very tied up with my family responsibilities and the dream of becoming a Chartered Accountant became distant.

Then somewhere, in 2014, I remember I was looking for a job. Family responsibilities had eased out a bit, so I thought to give my career another shot. That is when my husband suggested the option of completing what I had started 20 years ago. He suggested to give it fair shot.. 

So, in 2014, I revalidated my registration. It was a huge challenge to start all over again It was nothing like where I had left, it was a complete fresh start. I had to re-learn to prepare and give exams. The course had undergone quite a change. 

For preparation, I took pen drive classes for few subjects as I could not attend face to face classes due to other responsibilities.

I attempted my CA final first group in May 2015 and I cleared in May 2017. In between these attempts when I got discouraged due to my inability to clear the exams my family was my biggest strength persuading me not to give up. I attempted my second group under new syllabus in May 2018 but couldn't clear. In November 2018 attempt I finally cleared the second group and became a Chartered Accountant.

I used to refer all Revision test papers, Mock test papers, Suggested answers and most importantly ICAI material along with reference books. I used to make summarized notes while studying and that helped me a great deal during revision.

I did not have peers to turn to for my doubts. That is where CAclubindia has been a friend to me. I used to post my doubts at CAClubindia.com, both in the general and expert section. The community is so amazing here, I got many replies for my queries and it helped to get good clarity on my topic. I used to refer the articles posted there. After exams, I logged into CAClubindia.com for paper analysis as well.

For me, the biggest lesson through this journey is to keep trying and NEVER GIVE UP.