Hey guys, today I'm gonna share an excerpt from the journey of a CA FINAL STUDENT, named K.Agg about how he tackled the failure of scoring marks as low as 25 in FR and how & what results he finally managed to score in it.
So, this story is of May, 2018 attempt. He started preparing for the first group of CA FINAL in May 2017 attempt. Though FR is one of his fav subjects but still he was unable to score much in it, not even passing marks. He got only 23 marks in FR in May 2017 attempt. He was obviously disappointed but he already knew that he is not going to score much and clear this attempt due to low preparation and zero revision in FR.
Then in the next attempt i.e. Nov 2017, he prepared better than the previous one .... but still due to lack of adequate preparation, less than required hard work and revision, improper time management, insufficient office leaves, outdated notes and some very major relationship issues, he failed miserably in that attempt too and got only 25 marks in FR.
Other 3 subjects, though scoring better, also needed some improvements but 25 marks in FR was something very destructive for him and this time he wasn't expecting a score as low as this one. Just 25 marks in FR was something so discouraging that he became grief-stricken and started to doubt his own capabilities to continue pursuing CA.
Well, by the time results were out, he was already in a tormented situation. He recently had a very bad break up, his laptop got stolen, he was financially broken, he was on the verge of being fired up from his job etc etc and above all, this result ..... He thought for a once that "enough is enough now", this is not working at all for his life, decided to quit CA and look for other options the moment he saw his result on screen.
His best friend, also a CA, called him to ask his results in a hopeful voice and K.Agg said he got a negative result and also that now he isn't continuing and quitting CA. His friend stopped him saying he won't let him drop CA, consoling him and encouraging for more preparation in the next attempt but K.Agg wasn't fully convinced.
Then at night, his dad came home after office. K.Agg expected that this is going to be very difficult and hard for him to face dad with a negative result, such low marks and to tell him that he has decided to quit and won't be pursuing CA anymore. But before he could confront his dad, his dad approached him first in his room and with a smile asked "how are you my son?" K.Agg was surprised to witness this unexpected reaction of his dad. Dad's eyes were full, still not dropping a tear. K.Agg was also somehow holding his tears just to let his dad show that his son is not weak. Dad continued the conversation, I know you must be devastated and you should be, after all it is your career, your hardwork, your time and your life. But still I know you can, you have to and you will become a CA one day. I request you not to be disappointed, not to give up, it is my dream that one day you add "CA" prefix to your name. For that I want you to keep up, make yourself better and try even harder. Saying this, dad finally started crying in front of K.Agg which gave K.Agg shivers all over his body. He obviously couldn't tell his dad about his plans of giving up and nodded to dad surrendering to his dreams and ambitions.
That night, K.Agg couldn't sleep, cried badly in his room alone about his inability to succeed in these exams which have now started defining his life and to be unable to fulfil his parent's dream of becoming CA. After a span of some days, he made up his mind to stand up, recontinue, try better & harder than the previous attempt and not to give up on his and his parent's dreams so easily.
Now, "Mission May 2018" started. He decided to quit his job as soon as he finish his pending assignment in next 5-6 days. He started preparing a blueprint about how to clear May 18 attempt especially scoring great in FR. He felt that these 25 marks were like a slap on his face that if you can't clear this one hell of a paper then how can you think of yourself being called a CA. These 25 marks became a nightmare to him. So he decided to took it as a challenge and aimed to achieve an exemption atleast in this "MONSTER FR".
Planning time - He had already quit his job by now, spent some days attending his best friend's marriage, help himself come out of that setback, watched "The Big Bang Theory" for a while to laugh.... and settle his mind for that period. He started researching for new teachers and latest study materials available. Then by the end of march, he found a teacher who was claiming to finish/revise entire FR in 7 days plus 2 days classes extra for a consolidation chapter. Keeping in mind the time and other options available, he decided to give it a try.
Class time - He proactively participated in the class, invested his honest 100% while listening to the teacher, understanding the concepts, solving questions and to keep his focus only on one thing i.e. to triumph the FR in this very attempt only. Teacher was also very good and his teaching style was very different to which K.Agg started getting used to and becoming comfortable with. It looked like his experiment with a new teacher was working. But it seemed as this was teacher's first batch of this sort and 7 days were falling short to complete the entire syllabus so he said it will take at least 12 hrs a day to finish the course and students not willing to do this can take their refund and watch it at home on pen drive instead. K.Agg again took it as an opportunity to push his limits even further, to study in class only for 12-14 hrs straight and the moment he decided that, something inside him transformed.
He realised that now he is ready to give anything and everything for this subject. His commitment towards his goal crystallized even better. He attended all the classes for such longer hours but was still afresh at the end of the day. Then going back home, completing his homework and revising what was being taught that day. It was something he never did for any subject before. He started taking care of his food habits so that he doesn't become lethargic during classes. The teacher was also very encouraging, he keeps on motivating the students on a regular basis. He used to say everyday, many times, to all the students that aim for atleast 70 marks in FR including 16 compulsory marks in consolidation question which pumped up K.Agg to dream bigger.
Class ended, K.Agg felt a bit confident in this subject that went missing after the previous horrible result and he now started dreaming for 70 marks including 16 marks in consolidation chapter.
Preparation time - Now, he knew that taking a leap from 25 to 70 marks is surely a very big mountainous task in itself. He has to do something which he had never did before. He then started to strategize for how to practice and achieve 70 marks in FR and also how to manage other subjects as well. For the first time, he even joined a library near his house to get out of his comfort zone, started studying there on a regular basis for around 10 hrs straight, then coming home and resume his studies again. He studied on an average 16 hrs everyday taking small breaks here and there. He did written practice of all the questions of FR for the first time. For once, he finished entire course of FR without leaving any topic. Also while preparing for other subjects, he used to take out some time to attempt some important questions of consolidation chapter keeping a timer for 25 mins so that he can finish his paper especially consolidation question well within time.
He restricted himself from socializing, talking to anyone, attending family & friends parties, visiting social websites, kept his phone switched off till exams are over. In other words, he boycotted the outside world for the time being. For the first time, he reached his 3rd revision of FR.... and this time also he practiced all the important questions by hand not practicing even a single question orally, no matter how easy it may seem. He left no stone unturned this time.
The nightmares of 25 marks in FR didn't stopped even after coming this much far but he used these nightmares as his fuel for motivation, to not stop at all and kept preparing harder for it. He started doing meditation to help him lower his stress levels and to concentrate better. He even prepared a small booklet incorporating all the concepts, theories, formats, formulae of FR without seeing them from the practice book and read it everyday for 10-15mins.
By the time exam day came, he became quite confident about this subject and especially consolidation chapter. He planned that he will first attempt consolidation question in a span of 25 mins to secure 16 easy marks in initial 25 mins only and then he will proceed for other questions accordingly.
Exam day - He was well prepared in his mind about how to attempt this paper, how to solve consolidation question first and then how to write other questions. But everything if goes as planned then there is no fun in that.
Question paper came, he started reading consolidation question first as planned and started figuring out the solution in his mind. He didn't read other questions well as he was primarily focused on solving consolidation question first. He started attempting consolidation question and timed this for 25 mins as planned but as he was about to finish the question and write conclusion, he observed that he made a mistake in taking one of the assumption. He then quickly made adjustments to the question, cut figures, re entered new figures but in the end the balance sheet didn't tallied even after applying new adjustments and he observed another mistake by then. It took him around 65 mins to finally conclude that answer. He was on the verge of panic by that time.
Now he started to sweat as 84 marks paper was still left to be written in less than 120 mins. His planning started to crumble, his heartbeat got faster, all his hardwork, sleepless nights, his preparation days were flashing before his eyes. He remembered the moment when his dad cried in front of him, he remembered those 25 marks which just destroyed him from inside. He ran out of options. He then took a sip of water, looked up the ceiling, took God's name and prayed that these 120 mins he is all surrendered to God and now he will have to take care of him. He can't do anything much now.
He then resumed his paper hoping to finish atleast 70 marks paper to score some passing marks. But something else took over, he was in a different rhythm altogether. He started reading questions from the very end, what is being asked in the question before reading any other information and adjustment. He started preparing formats first based on what was asked in question and then placed all the adjustments and information in that format accordingly. All the formats, concepts, formulae he prepared in his booklet started flashing before his eyes. He didn't stopped, didn't took a break even for a second in those 120 mins. All the answers were getting tallied in the end i.e. he was getting sure that all adjustments were being put in their right places this time. When bell rang and examiner collected the paper, he calculated that he managed to attempt 96 marks paper and only 4 marks paper was left to be answered. He sighed that now he shall atleast get pass in this subject. He may not score an exemption or 70 marks as originally planned because of consolidation question blunder but he should be able to atleast clear it this time and he tried focusing on other subjects.
Result day - The D-day came. He knew his Finance paper didn't went well and he was sure that he may not clear this attempt but above all he was awaiting to view his FR score first.
He scored 65 in FR, didn't clear the attempt because he was 3 marks short in finance paper..... He was happy and satisfied in his heart with these 65 marks he finally managed to score. He thanked God from the bottom of his heart. It, then, gave him a much needed boost to continue pursuing his and his father's dream to become a CA.
It gave him something to cherish upon for a long time about the fact that he didn't gave up when the time and situations were most unfavourable to him, when he was facing a lot of criticisms even from those people who once supported him in this journey and he was sure now that he has what it takes to become a CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT.
Thanks a lot for reading this blog. I hope the time you devoted in reading this was worth it. It may not be special or a unique story but it is definitely a story of hard work, persistence and perseverance. It could be a story of many people going through these kind of failures, disappointments, facing criticisms but in the end decided not to give up on their dearest dreams.
It reminds me of a saying that goes like, "if you truly work hard and honestly to achieve something then the entire universe conspires situations to help you achieve it eventually :).
All the very best to everyone for your exams in May 2019 and all the future endeavours, your efforts you put in those and may you get the best possible results out of them.
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