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January 18, 2017 at 12:55 pm #1443663MasterGGMParticipant
What does everyone do outside of work/study to balance out their life?
I started making videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiVRZJlimey11AAH0MBI3IA
P.S. I received my CPA # & CA certificate last week!
AUD - 77
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 83Licensed CPA in CA as of Jan. 5, 2017FAR: CREDIT
AUD: CREDIT
REG: CREDIT
BEC: CREDIT
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January 18, 2017 at 1:48 pm #1443705aaronmoParticipant
I collect/ride vintage bicycles (and some newer ones), am a music junkie and spend time with wife/family/friends. Nothing too out of the ordinary.
AUD - 96
BEC - 84
FAR - 89
REG - 86Aaron and always remember, YMMVI profit from your CPE frustration. You're welcome.
January 18, 2017 at 1:56 pm #1443710StilgoinParticipantWe collect and restore muscle cars, mainly 60s and 70s Pontiac and Chevy. I distance run, hike, fish, water-ski and love pretty much anything outdoors.
But lately – LOL– nothing. I have no time for anything except this. :’(
Stilgoin, CPAThere are enough critics. Be an encourager
B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, WaitingEthics | 93
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."
January 18, 2017 at 2:00 pm #1443711AnonymousInactiveI'm a classical musician. Succeeding as a classical musician is extremely hard, even if you're very good at it, which is why I never went to music school, as much as I wanted to. Learning new pieces, especially if they're difficult, is tons of fun for me and actually that's how I got through the process of studying for FAR. That monstrous Roger review book, 31 chapters long, and nearly 2,000 MCQs and TBSs that took almost 3 months to conquer, would have been far harder if I hadn't had my musical outlet. I also like old TV shows and movies (vintage stuff, pre-1990s.)
Ok, I need to ask a question here – not to change the subject… There are CPAs, quite a few surprisingly, who are on this forum regularly, including some who passed all four exams and got licensed long ago. What is the appeal? I don't get it. Why would a CPA be interested in all this stressful garbage that all of us who are trying to pass these exams are going through? Or, are some being paid to come on here and serve as guidance counselors or something? I'm not trying to be cynical, although it might come across that way. Once I'm done, I'm not coming back on here again, as great as this forum is!
January 18, 2017 at 2:10 pm #1443717MasterGGMParticipant@crazyleon
I personally come back often because I have friends who are in the examination process and I, as a professional, would like to be educated on all the exam changes and new materials for my own knowledge and to be able to assist others.
Also, Ninja folk helped me through a lot of stress, and it is only the right thing to do to contribute back.
AUD - 77
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 83Licensed CPA in CA as of Jan. 5, 2017FAR: CREDIT
AUD: CREDIT
REG: CREDIT
BEC: CREDITJanuary 18, 2017 at 2:22 pm #1443729AnonymousInactiveAh ok, I understand. But once I am done conquering all of these exams, that's the end. I'll rely on CPE to get all accounting updates but as for changes on the exam….uggghhh. After I've passed #4, I don't even want to think about it. The AICPA seems to make a good number of changes to the exam regularly, and/or starts a new “change the exam” project task force just because they need something to keep themselves busy every day. I wish I'd been in a position to take it when it was still a pencil-paper test.
January 18, 2017 at 2:36 pm #1443737JMGParticipantI'm into vinyl/records, collecting and also selling online. I used to DJ but don't really have time for that anymore.
Your fail scores are like battle scars, so wear them proudly!REG - 76 (expired 7/31/18)
BEC - 69, 72, 80
AUD - 62, 70, 74
FAR - 50, 60
January 18, 2017 at 2:45 pm #1443740So FAR So GoodParticipantYou say you won't be on here once you've passed, but wait until you do and see what happens then. You seem to have been fairly active on this forum so far after taking just one section – you will come to find that this process has sort of become a part of you, and browsing this message board will have the same appeal as any other forum that you visit regularly: entertainment, relatability, community, interaction, etc.
As for hobbies, like Leon, I am also a classical musician and wanted to go into music professionally. You're absolutely right … it's so hard to have a successful career in music. I personally thought about either going the performance route, or, an even more difficult route to succeed in, film scoring. I still play and frequently venture out for live music, but I'm hoping that I may be able to join some sort of community or local group to start performing again. Most of my hobbies do revolve around music and performance art in general. I also play golf and snowboard, and I usually join a few social sports leagues per year. Oh, and food. Can't forget food. I'm a total foodie and try out a lot of different restaurants and recipes at home.
AUD - 91
BEC - 85
FAR - 91
REG - 86.F - 91 (6/5/2016)
A - 7/30/2016
R - 10/8/2016
B - 12/10/2016January 18, 2017 at 2:47 pm #1443741AnonymousInactiveJanuary 18, 2017 at 3:41 pm #1443771aaronmoParticipantI guess I've stuck around because:
A. I enjoy some of the people
B. It keeps stuff fresh that I'd otherwise forget
C. I'm paying back/forward the people who gave me good advice
D. Accountants tend to be not full of BS and I appreciate a lot of the wisdom hereAUD - 96
BEC - 84
FAR - 89
REG - 86Aaron and always remember, YMMVI profit from your CPE frustration. You're welcome.
January 18, 2017 at 3:43 pm #1443774sallybreannParticipantI’m a classical musician too 🙂 I double majored in accounting and piano in college but I also played clarinet in band and symphony for 12 years. I think the discipline I developed practicing piano has helped with my discipline for studying for these exams as well. I also love cooking, outdoors and learning through books, blogs, videos, travel. This is an interesting forum discussion because we all have to sacrifice to take theses exams and hobbies were the first to go for me and I miss them dearly!
FAR - 82BEC - 74, 82
AUD - 78
REG - 80
January 18, 2017 at 6:25 pm #1443897AnonymousInactive@So Far So Good – yes, this forum can get addictive! Who knows if I will ever meet anyone on here in person, but it's nice to exchange ideas about accounting/CPA journey. It seems as though classical music is more popular than I thought!! It is a great thing to do, to get your brain into shape for more difficult tasks like advanced-level accounting stuff. I've been playing the violin since I was 9 years old. I've studied with some very big names in the violin world over the years. But, doing music as a career requires that you use your instrument to put food on the table and for most people, it's not a fit unless you're prepared to live a rather meager existence – unless you have a steady job in an orchestra. Even then, some classical musicians work almost every day of the year teaching or playing in other groups in order to make the money they need to have the kind of life they want. I'm just glad I don't have to use music to pay my bills. I'd probably not enjoy it much if I had to do that.
January 18, 2017 at 6:45 pm #1443914AnonymousInactive@sallybreann – yes, I know, isn't that terrible that so many things have to get pushed aside while we conquer the CPA exam? Ighh! I want my old life back! haha Well, someday I'm sure I'll have it again. I love the clarinet – and when I was 10 years old, I wanted to switch to it from the violin. But, thankfully, my teacher in school talked me out of it. I think I would've been a good clarinetist though – I have a good set of lungs!
January 18, 2017 at 7:04 pm #1443921EZ_Sims_4_me_PlsParticipantbodybuilding
lol..
AUD - 80
BEC - 84
FAR - 77
REG - 79one step closerJanuary 18, 2017 at 9:04 pm #1444049AnonymousInactive– Building and flying remote control multi-rotors (like helicopters, but with many propellers – my main one is a hexacopter, so 6 arms/propellers, but also fly quadcopters)
– Experimenting in the kitchen (not gourmet, but I'll cook up something weird, or have a kitchen gadget that makes no sense to anyone else but I use all the time)
– Video games ( :-O no, no, not a geek confession!)
– Mostly, spending time with my other half, which is where the multirotors and video games initially came from…and cooking's kinda part of that too. 🙂P. S. I think I've posted more frequently post-exams than during-exams. *shrug* I stick around cause there's people with questions that I can provide answers to, and I like helping people learn and succeed. Also cause when I open a new tab, Firefox shows my most-visited sites, and A71 is always there, so it's so easy to click it and end up replying here-and-there before I know what I've done… The exams were a source of some tears, a lot of work, etc., but they're not a hellish nightmare in my memory, so they're not something to avoid like the plague. ‘Sides, I went to school online, so I don't have a network of accountants from school-days, and being on here has allowed me to connect with other accountants. My employers have been small (one was a large company, but I was part of a small remote team), so I could count on both hands the number of accountants I've worked with during my career, and it wouldn't even require much of the second hand, so I haven't gained much of a network through work yet.
January 18, 2017 at 9:39 pm #1444055CPA8675309ParticipantIt's funny that people are mentioning music, because I am not a musician. However, for a long time I've wanted to learn to play the piano and for the last few years I've told myself I can't do that until I pass the CPA exam. So eventually I want one of my hobbies to be playing the piano.
For now though, I enjoy the outdoors. Camping and hiking in the summer; snowboarding in the winter. One thing that absolutely stinks about the long score release is that my last test will be in July if all goes well, but I am not sure how to enjoy the remainder of summer not knowing if I passed (actually I won't know about my third test until August either).
AUD - 77
BEC - 85
FAR - 84
REG - 85I'm done!! -
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