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Saturday, December 4, 2010

UFE Results – How to survive failure Part 1

On first note, congratulations to all those that passed the 2010 Uniform Final Evaluation. It marks a significant milestone in your career and you are one step closer to fulfilling your goal of “IwanttobeaCA.”

However, this article is not about you.

This article is dedicated towards the students who worked extremely hard, and often are the hardest working students, who failed the UFE.

Failing the UFE, when the vast majority of everyone else you know passes is one of the worst possible experiences of anyone’s life. The majority of people who write do pass –
which makes failure so much bitter.

You will have people tell you “There is more to life than the UFE” and “You can just do it again next year, I’m sure you’ll pass.”

Believe me those words don’t offer any sort of comfort.

Yes, there is more to life than the UFE. But the UFE is not just a test. It is a battle that you took over a month to prepare for, every single day, where you poured your entire heart into.

It’s a battle where you stressed over every single night, about how your technical was not strong enough and the disappointing Nominal competents that you received. It’s a battle where you had to sacrifice time with your friends, family, and relationships, and the fights you’ve had because of this “test”.

It was 3 days of agonizing pain. Waking up early, tired from not being able to sleep, going to write an exam where you’re only at 60% capacity and leaving every day with uncertainty of your performance, and knowing the painful cycle would simply repeat itself the next day.

You even had hope it would finally be over on the third day and that you wouldn’t have to look for another pervasive indicator.

Maybe in the back of the mind you considered the possibility of failure, but you still had hope, the 3 months leading up to results day.

Then when you checked the results yesterday, and you looked for your name, and you couldn’t find it, you were in utter disbelief, you refresh again, and the reality begins to sink it that you did not pass. Your friends and family call to see how you did, and you are just in utter shock and cannot do anything and just want to hide yourself from the rest of the world.

The nightmare will continue for you. This is the most demoralizing feeling in the world.

A painful analogy would be being released from jail, only to have to find out you need to go return 3 months later.

These are the painful things you will have to go through.

1) Another month of rigorous studying 8 months from now with stress and worry leading up to it.
2) Taking time off from work to study which translates to loss earnings.
3) Paying for the heavy cost of the UFE à even the big firms don’t’ sponsor second time writers.
4) Paying for additional prep programs.

But the worst part, is the different attitude that your co-workers will show you when you show up on work on Monday, and the people around you.

There will be the people who try to avoid the fact that you failed, and don’t talk about UFE in front of you, the ones in a group who will suddenly talk about something else when you show up and there will be those who ask how you are doing and try to offer emotional support.

Nevertheless, while both groups have good intentions, they simply magnify the reality and importance of your failing the UFE. And you hate them, and their probably gossiping behind your back anyways...

And you will have to wait, a long time, before you get a chance to redeem yourself. AND THIS SUCKS A LOT.

I’m not going to try to hide you from the reality of failure. It sucks and it hurts a lot and I painted the reality of the situation above for you. It will hurt for awhile no matter how many people tell you the UFE is not everything. Unless they are in the same position as you, they really don’t understand what you are going through.

I just wanted to present you with the bitter reality that failing UFE writers are
going through.

There will be a time when I will offer words of wisdom, and how to cope…

But for now, It’s ok to feel bad. It’s ok to to hate life and about how unfair the UFE is. How you worked so hard and your friend who winged it passed. Its ok to be pessimistic, and ok to cry, and ok to feel like the world is ending and that you are the only person in the world going through this. It’s ok to feel disappointed in yourself, and mad at your friends celebrating, and mad that you can’t share the happiness with them. It’s ok to feel hopeless and angry and tired and loss of interest in life.

Because, you are not alone, Trust me.


Sincerely,
The Accountant’s friend
Successful 2007 UFE writer – 2nd try

14 comments:

  1. "...worst possible experiences of anyone’s life..."

    Really? REALLY?? Do you still have all your limbs? And your parents? Are you dying of cholera in Haiti, or of starvation in Africa? No? Then it's really not so bad. It's just an exam.

    This is what is so seriously wrong with the CA profession.


    I think something more important to remind people of is that:
    1. It's just an exam.
    2. It's a fairly ridiculous exam, that doesn't test for actual content or knowledge, but the ability to jump through hoops.
    3. Not passing the UFE is NO reflection on your level of intelligence. (I know brilliant people who failed, and I still have no idea how I passed since I'm a pretty terrible accountant.)
    4. IT'S JUST AN EXAM. Your life is not over.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honestly STFU you dumb ass if i failed a exam like UFE i wouldn't care about anyone people like you piss me off cause your unrealistic. Go suck on a cock and die

      Delete
  2. Looking forward to 2011 for any writer, being in a position where you're "only at 60% capacity" because you couldn't sleep is NOT a good thing. This points to being in a position of far too much stress - which will definitely work against a writer. If you're someone who doesn't "test well" I'd recommend finding a way to cope with that first.

    As for someone thinking that people will "gossip behind your back" for not passing, that's rather ridiculous. Perhaps if your office is the CA-equivalent of "Gossip Girl" that's a risk, but the offices I know would never do something that ridiculous. More likely your colleagues will gather resources to help you identify what went wrong last time and help you nail it next time around.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with both posters above. Worst thing in your life? Are you kidding. Theres far more horrible things that can happen, the UFE is not one of them. For God's sake people need to have more perspective.
    As to Krupo's comments, i do not think ANYONE gossips about failed writers. Sure they may be a little discussion here and there, but no one really cares to be honest. So you failed, big deal, people will pat you on the back and try their best to make sure you pass the next time around.

    ReplyDelete
  4. To nicholle, you sound just like my mom : ) I phoned her 3 days before marks day and I kept asking her, "what if I fail, what am I gonna do?" and she said, "You'll live, it's just an exam, think about (insert our neighbour's name), he was already a mute and now he lost his eyesight and can't even feed his family now - and then as she was about to continue with starving homeless kids, I quickly conceded and hang up. Yup, there are much worse things than failing the UFE.

    ReplyDelete
  5. From Ontario.
    I failed the SOA in 2006.
    I failed the UFE in 2007.
    I failed the UFE in 2008.
    Was diagnosed with bipolar disorder & in hospital in 2009 - off a yr from work.
    I pass the 2010 UFE!

    Bottom line is this: its not how hard you can hit, its how hard you get hit and keep moving forward - Rocky Balboa.

    In 2011, I will be a CA. Yooo Adrian!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Failing the UFE isn't the end of the world... but there are no comments for the poor souls that write this dreaded exam over and over and keep failing. I have a friend who just failed the UFE after four attempts... what do you tell him? How do you console him?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think this post is from the perspective of ppl who failed ....my friend failed UFE 2010 and he as smart as anyone who pass this years UFE but she feels like a failure for now.

    and he doesn't even have a job anymore? so, its is naturally for a person who fail to feel this way.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "It's not how hard you can hit, its how hard you get hit and keep moving forward." - Rocky Balboa.

    I couldn't have put this better myself, being a Rocky fan. Only a small number of people are naturally talented students, and quite often these people are not the most effective people in the "real world" because they have never had to reach down and become more than what they are.

    As a CGA student, I can only imagine that the UFE would be touch, and I take my hat off to the people who have to take it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Do post what did you do to pass the UFE The next time such as:

    -when did you start doing technical review when you wrote the UFE again

    -and how did you deal with sims and comps when you practiced them again as there is no element of surprise anymore

    -Also, what prep program did you use etc.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I failed the 2010 ufe as a first time writer. I can't speak for anyone else, but it truly is a horrible feeling knowing you gave the exam all you had, and it still wasn't good enough

    I agree with comments that it is not the end of the world etc...especially as I have had many personal obstacles in the last couple of years that are certainly more traumatice in comparison...however, it doesnt take away from the fact that I failed...

    Will I get through this?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Of course you will!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have never failed anything academic in my life, failing the 2011 UFE is my first. I feel frustration towards those who passed, I am upset that I didn't pull through, but I have also realized that this doesn't put me back any. Sure I'm out the money and I have to go through the studying and the exam again; however, I still have a job, I am still moving forward. I commend all of those who have written the UFE. It takes a special person to even put themselves through that. Better luck next year!

    ReplyDelete
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