I think I can . . .

Wow, it's been a month since I've posted on here. No excuses, I'm just lame.

Today was a roller coaster of emotions, as has been the last month or so. I officially graduated from Buena Vista University May 26th with my BA in Accounting. I was very excited to finally have the completed and the campus was a beautiful place to visit. Leading up to the graduation ceremony, though, I started thinking about the CPA exams. Ana and I have been talking about tackling these obstacles for a while now and I knew I needed to find the motivation. Slowly but surely, I convinced myself I could do this. Talking to my old professor, Lee, really helped too. He's truly so motivational - I need one of his pep talks recorded for the times I don't believe in myself...and I told him as much. Well, all was good and well until I remembered I need to have 150 credit hours completed to be a CPA. So even though I had completed my BA, I wasn't guaranteed to have the 150 hours and be in the clear. So, BVU mailed me my official transcript along with my diploma. The transcript said 129 hours. No! This couldn't be right! Are you kidding me?! I went to three different colleges: University of Iowa, Kirkwood Community College, and Buena Vista University. You're telling me in the eight years I took classes from three different institutions I didn't rack up 150 credit hours?! You'd never be able to tell by my student loan balance, jeesh! It wasn't fair. There had to be a mix up. I kept telling myself these things. So I called my advisor at BVU and asked her if the transcript they sent me was complete with all other institutions I took classes at. She explained to me that there are a limited number of credits they can transfer in from other colleges, especially community colleges. I got my hopes up...I refused to get down on this until I got my transcripts directly from U of I and Kirkwood. There had to be classes I took at those places that hadn't been transferred to BVU. I took Chemistry classes at U of I, for crying out loud. Surely BVU didn't find those applicable to my Accounting degree. They must not be on my transcript. That's it!

So, my U of I transcript comes in the mail and sure enough, it has 55 credits, just like the BVU transcript noted. Ok, Kirkwood...Kirkwood had to have something.

So, today I called Kirkwood...17 credits, just like the BVU transcript noted.

Many profanities were proclaimed. I may have shed a tear. The light at the end of the tunnel, the glimmer of hope...was gone. I, indeed, needed 21 more credit hours. 7 more classes. I thought I was done! I had finally motivated myself to go towards my CPA. I had started to believe in myself. I believed that I can do this - I can be a licensed CPA!

Now I had 7 classes standing in my way. Eff.

My dear dear friend, Ana, came to my rescue, though. She reminded me that yes, I need 150 credit hours but I don't need them to sit for the exam in the state of Iowa...I need them afterwards to get licensed. Sooooooooo...what does this mean?

This, my friends, means I can take the 4 CPA exams and then complete my 150 credit hours. After that is complete and I take the Ethics course and pay my registration fees, I can get licensed. Phew!

So I will soon be buying this huge book to start the grueling studying. I don't know how I'm going to do it, honestly. I don't have discipline and I am not good at having structure. That's exactly what I need, though. Structure. I will need to be more diligent than ever to get this accomplished. One must pass all 4 tests in an 18 month period, so my goal is to get the first two done by the end of the year that way I'll have a year to finish the other two and retake any if necessary.

Please pray for me...not only that I do well, but that I stay structured, disciplined, and motivated. Any continuous motivational words will be greatly appreciated.

I promise a much happier post soon......very soon!!