Accounting Awareness Feature - Concluding Part: Reni Ayinde's ICAN journey

Hi everyone, trust you enjoyed the first part! Here is the concluding part.

Do read, share & be inspired.


PART 2
PE 1 (May 2011- November 2012)

So it was time to take the first stage of the Professional examination (PE1). I was helping out in church on campus while waiting for NYSC posting and convocation ceremony. Studying for the May 2011 diet was not fun, the initial drive I had during ATS was gone. I was disappointed, yes! Because that was not the plan! With the initial plan, I would be chattered by first semester 400level. It was taking way too long than I had anticipated! I was tempted at different times to ditch the whole thing jare! But somehow, I managed to drag myself through.




Upon obtaining a BSc in Accounting, on, all my classmates could now use their degree certificate to apply for ICAN and we would be on the same level! So what was the whole point! Why did I subject myself to the torture of ATS? All the supposed time saved was lost! I had mixed emotions. Anger, laced with disappointment and garnished with sadness. Happiness sure was not part of it, or why exactly would I be happy? In any case, I encouraged myself to look on the bright side, PE1 was the second to the last level, hence, by November 2011 I would write PE2...Voila! The new plan.
May 2011 was fast approaching. As a graduate of accounting, I figured that I was well and able to tackle ICAN PE1 effortlessly, at least that was what our financial accounting lecturer told us so we could buy his textbook group accounts. lol.
I dissed classes - bad move, and read for the 4 courses on my own, using the ICAN study pack and my OAU notebooks. Hahaha, see me priding myself being an OAU graduate. Forgetting that in school we were thought SAS and ICAN uses IAS/IFRS. Anyway, in my mind I read for exam and wrote the PE1 exam.
I was at the NYSC camp in Yola when my mum called me to tell me my result.
I can still remember and even hear her voice as I write. Lol. "Reni what does Bad failure mean?" Do all you can to come back to Lagos and face your exams!
Okay wait o, bad failure ke? How now? I didn't even pass Information Technology! I was so sure I was going to pass as I already gave out my study packs to a classmate of mine.

Once again, ICAN crumbled me. If there was any confidence left, ICAN zapped that out! I cried my heart out. Here I learnt a valuable lesson. God’s principles are his principles and faith should be a way of life not a shock absorber!
I was not diligent, I didn't prepare well for my exams, yet I expected that by some miracle I would pass. I prayed a lot and served. But this didn't translate into passing the exam #Honest Evaluation.
Well, I did not dwell too much at that valley, I needed to pass November 2011 exam while still in Yola. And therein lied my challenges:
No tuition house to attend lectures
No exam buddies to study together
No leave at work, No nothing at all
All I could do was find a way to WIN (pass the exam!)
I read daily. At work and at home, limited to only my study packs and notes but this time I did so diligently and men it was not easy! Not one bit. It was so demoralizing because no one around me was writing and I had 4 roommates. I would close my eyes whether there was sleep or not and wait till my roomies had slept-off. Then, I would resume at my table (I got a table and chair, lamp, candle etc. all for ICAN. I didn't even sleep on a bed, got used to the rug because it helped me wake early)

At work I would read my jottings as often as I could (I experienced a lot of issues there as well because I just didn’t fit into their jigsaw. I could not use the office library because all of a sudden everyone wanted me to run errands. Anyway, God helped me as the exams drew nearer. I had learnt to do away with any emotional ties with ICAN - just read and go write exam! I didn’t realize how crazily I had been acting until it dawned on me that exams were to start the next day. I mean, who relies solely on study pack and no group discussions to pass an exam, especially ICAN? Anyway, it was too late to remediate, I wrote the 4 papers and anxiously awaited the results, really anxiously.

You do know how our darling internet can decide to be so sluggish at the point you need her the most, right? That was my lot as I gazed at the screen so keenly like a culprit waiting to hear the Judge’s sentence. Weeks had passed and the results were out. I kept gazing as the page loaded at the speed of a snail, 1% through 1.001%. The wait was enough to raise once BP to the roof. Finally, they came in trickles:
The first loaded- Passed (Financial Accounting)
The second loaded - passed (Information Technology)
The third loaded- passed (Management Accounts)
Then the forth! Mehn I was rejoicing already... And yeah ICAN saved their Joker for the last, Advanced Audit and Assurance – Failed.
Sad wouldn’t be adequate to describe what I felt. The tears poured all out like a tap that lost its knob, but not for long, I dusted it all off and got to reading for AAA again. Honestly though, I felt like I was dumb. Reading for AAA again was tough because I had read it all. Really, what else did they want?! I wrote the exam again, my very 3rd attempt. Wow! That was hard, really hard. Failing an exam was fast becoming the norm. How could I have become like this? How could the journey have become so long? How? My heart raced with so many questions. But answers, they chose to lay in silence.
The result of the AAA I wrote was due, and I had just concluded my NYSC. I eagerly awaited my result, of course this time I would pass. But no, I was so wrong, I didn't pass the exam!
Speak of the sun setting in broad daylight, tell of the darkness being so thick and engulfing, imagine walking the lonely path in the cold dark wind, face down, shoulders slouched and the eyes blood shot with…. tears? Hot tears. OMG! I was broken, so broken. All I heard was "didn't you read?" "May be this is not for you" "free ICAN ".

At that point, I lost every interest, it all didn't make sense any more. Like seriously? Was it a dream or a joke? Those who knew my story and were concerned about my well-being advised that I stop putting in the futile effort, they tried to console me, I cried the more.
I kept serving in church, I was frustrated but resolute. I just would not cave-in. There was just something in me that would not let me give up. I decided to keep going. I made enquiries about lectures in Lagos. And attended classes for my November 2012 exam. Initially I was not faithful with classes but as the days made their turns, I swallowed the bitter pill. "Ha! No wonder you did not pass." the other part of me told the other part of me. I struggled internally between church meetings after Sunday service and 12pm classes. After a while and much struggle, I decided to be diligent with classes, I was certain that God wouldn’t be angry with me for going to classes on a Sunday.
I stopped all unnecessary visits and gallivanting. Most days, I was home, reading for AAA. In any case, I had no job. Finally, the exam came and yes, I passed.
Did I need anyone to tell me to prepare well for my PE2 exam? Of course not, I had learnt first-hand and the very hard way what the consequences of poor preparation could be. I attended lectures, had group discussions, read well – during the day and at night, and by extension, my love for coca cola and Kopiko ensued. After all the plenty preparation and seriousness, I only passed 2 papers out of the 4 papers I wrote. Oh, this time, I didn’t cry. I guess I already got used to writing and not passing at once. That seemed to be my reality
I faced a lot of mockery and jeering. Once, someone asked "Are you still writing this exam? Since…?" Those words broke me. But I found solace in the times I had encouraged someone who was going to give up, who I helped to be refired and stay focused on achieving his goals, not quitting until the task has been completed.

I registered for the November 2013 diet but couldn't not prepare adequately for two reasons. Firstly, work was all over me. It was very difficult combining study and work especially when you live on the mainland and work in Lekki! Traffic kept encroaching into my study time. I also began getting restless at work and knew it was getting to the end of my journey at my workplace. Secondly, I had an accident on my way home one day. A bus hit the tricycle (keke Maruwa) I was in and the impact was on where I was sitting, the crash threw us all into the gutter, one of us was totally submerged in the gutter while the driver was underneath the keke! The driver (of the car) drove off! I was just thankful that I was alive! I didn't tell anyone at home until the following Sunday when I asked my brother to help lift up my head because my head felt too heavy for my body to lift up! He was scared and so was I. I still went to church. I got some scolding from my already scared parents. My parents told me of a friend that had a similar occurrence which got her paralyzed.

Anyway, over the next 8-10weeks I was on a collar and in and out of Igbobi hospital. Thank God now, I look back and though it was hard, but in that mix I got a job with Deloitte and my last day at my former workplace before joining Deloitte was the last day I wore the collar.
My new office exam policy was not smiling oh and as a result I had to wait a year before I could proceed with my exams. I recall trying to hang on to the hook that I had paid for the exam, they said I could write but without leave, no class, and no preparation, nothing. I was just stubborn I guess. Anyway I did not pass it. Lol. Really now. How could I have? Hahahaha. I still felt bad because I remembered how long it had been. I told me that mehn! I will not rush to write exam without adequate preparation. I decided to wait till November 2014 to write again. Waiting to write my remaining 2 papers in November 2014 afforded me time to think about how exactly I would pass.

I was like Reni, “prepare well, zero in on it and pass, just pass”.
I was tempted to flaunt the 1 year rule and write in May 2014 (think office even allowed us who had last stage referral papers to write because ICAN was CHANGING SYLLABUS AGAIN!) ICAN ooooo! Why now. This time it was syllabus upgrade/ restructuring/ proving a point. Not too sure what to call it but it all translated to additional papers, tougher exams and stricter marking.
But I decided to face the new syllabus head on, after all, it was humans that set the exam questions. Okay so it was time to prepare for November 2014 exam, and with the new syllabus, I had 3 papers to write (Case study, Strategic financial management and corporate reporting)
I sought for and started lectures, and got text books to help. Since it was a new syllabus with no study packs nor pilot questions, everyone was like a blind man griping for direction! Tuition houses were more confused that ICAN themselves. ICAN didn't do well oh, but anyway that did not extend the date of the exam nor make the exam any simpler! Hahaha in fact for Strategic Financial Management (SFM) they decided to test only new topics!

I remember seeing my exam question paper and laughing, not the laughter of the conqueror, but that of one whom ICAN had dealt a blow below the belt. That notwithstanding, we hoped that all our preparation and classes would pay off, that finally, we would pass and get the unreserved license to use the ACA designation. When the results were released, i passed 2 of the 3 papers I wrote (corporate reporting and case study) but I scored an astounding 18/100 in SFM. I felt so bad that laughter became the new cry. My tear buds must have dries up already, after so much years of milking them for non-commercial purposes. Then, I heard that at initial marking, no one passed the SFM and they had to remark to pass a few. Haba! Was ICAN really insinuating that graduates, accounting graduates especially knew nothing about financial management?

Again, I registered for the May 2015 diet. I took it seriously like I was writing 4 papers, I made enquiries about who teaches SFM best and went to that tuition house, and I got my textbook and just gave it my last push. I found a scripture and meditated on it (I always had a scripture for every exam, and sometimes got tired. But this time, I was not kidding, I believed every word of Isaiah 50:7) With all the preparation, 5 days of leave, a select host of cheerleaders, all the focus and positive energy one could muster in the universe, and God by my side, I took ICAN by the horn. There were times that I would get to the office by 6am and leave by 10 pm because I needed to read. I gave it my all, assumed I knew nothing and craved to know it all.
It was tough, but I was tougher. That little voice crept in every now and then, “What's the point, this has happened before, remember AAA”. I had a constant battle in my mind and kept answering thoughts in my head with the words in Isaiah 50:7.
Exam came and I was numb! No emotions left for ICAN, that tank was empty and overdrawn. When I saw the first question, the popular compulsory one, I wondered if it was SFM I was actually writing. But wisdom said to do the other questions and return to the first later, so I did. Thank God I did, because I would have been demoralized trying to break through the maze of Question 1. I didn't know all the answers o! Hahaha far from it. But as I dropped my pen, words came to mind, which I would use to wage a good warfare over the next 2 month result waiting period.
 "This was the Diet I got Chartered"
I kept saying it and thinking it and using it to answer every doubt in my mind and thoughts telling me "what if?” Lailai! I refused to allow any contrary thought dwell or linger in my mind. When asked by my senior colleagues at work, “so the exam was very fine and you’re going to pass?” I would say yes, by God’s grace (before that little voice said otherwise).

So on 8th July 2015, results were released via text message. And when I got mine I had to read it carefully, I didn't trust ICAN not to attempt to get my hopes high in vain. As I read the text again, tears streamed down my face, IT WAS FINALLY OVER! Finally I could cry, this time for joy, finally I could dance, without sadness, finally what had a beginning had an end.
I was finally free! And now I am an ACA. Really? The joy that I felt, you cannot totally understand.
The testimony
“Words alone cannot totally express what my heart is saying right now. #Grateful2God
A milestone conquered! See God did this. I am trusting that he will use this journey of mine, my journey into achieving a dream, that looked so easy a task, yet was met with many twists and turns, it was delayed, though the reality of its actualization looked all too real to still be a hope yet unaccomplished.
But today it's done. I am grateful”

CONCLUSION:
I learnt a lot of things on the way to my ACA destination. One major I learnt was-
Principles are principles- Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. Be diligent and prepare well.
I know I could have cut this journey shorter if I had prepared well for my papers. God’s end is a constant K, but his grace multiplied by zero cannot produce anything. #hardTruth

Also, NEVER Give up, Give in or Quit. In quitting on things (except you're absolutely sure that it's not your journey oh) when we quit, when unconsciously put a peg on ourselves and when tough situations happen, we cannot rise above the peg we have set for ourselves.

Live inspired.
Ayinde Morenike
The Lord’s Handmaiden
www.handmaidenwritings.wordpress.com