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So I didn't ACTUALLY fail the CPA Board Exams. I got a conditional grade. =)

Back to overachieving again. =D

How Much I Miss My Overachiever Me

During Nursery, I remember being the star of my small school. To my classmates, I was Madonna. I could dance to La Bamba gracefully with a drop of a hat. I graduated armed with a gold medal. First Honor.

When I moved to a bigger school in EDSA, my dear JASMS, things didn't change much. I was still getting good grades, gaining a lot of friends and excelling on various extra curricular activities. Through the years I have cultivated beautiful friendships with a lot of my classmates and while at it, I still managed to maintain the O's (Outstanding) in my report cards. I was a part of our class volleyball team, class cheering squad, participated in unforgettable school plays and performed a lot of dance presentations. My life was such a breeze.

When I transferred to an exclusive school for girls in Cubao, I got really scared of the new environment, but still got through it all. Almost graduated from grade school with a certificate of recognition. In high school, I kinda messed up with my peers early on but eventually got back on my feet halfway. I never ceased in joining extra curricular activities such as dance contests and etc. In my Freshmen year, I was one of the fortunate cheerdancers who made it through the rigorous try outs for the Pep Squad. By my Junior year, I was topping the class with my unbelievable Chemistry and English grades. It was in my High School when I fell in love with Taekwondo and vowed to become a blackbelt someday. Juggling my academic life and my sports -- life, still, wasn't that complicated for me.

I took only four college entrance exams. I got cut off in the quota of UP. Gracefully flunked Ateneo (couldn't afford the tuition fee even if I did pass). Passed the De La Salle University exam with the special privilege to take Advanced Placement Exams. Passed the UST exam for my first and second choice of courses. I maintained very good grades during my GenEd years. While focusing on my academics, I still got my license as an Open Water Scuba Diver under PADI. I earned my Taekwondo Blackbelt Degree, received my Instructor's license and even qualified to become a national referee. On the latter part of my sophomore year, I took the qualifying exams for my majoring. Passed all the exams for Business Administration, Economics and the much coveted, Accountancy. I even placed in the top section, A1. With the height of my achievements, I didn't know if it was still possible for me to fall down. But I did.

In my Junior year, I have experienced my first failure. For someone who topped her high school class, who didn't receive a grade either than an O or an AA in elementary, failure is like taking a bullet, a shotgun bullet. Not one but three failures in my majoring years. I didn't know honestly what had gone wrong. Did I choose the wrong course? But I didn't dwell on that notion, and still took my first CPA board exams which I flunked as well.

I took some time pondering my situation and eventually gave it up and faced the real world. I entered the corporate world. Still a part of me is still missing, the title of being a CPA. After 3 long years, I tried another shot. Dropped everything in my table and focused on the upcoming exam. To my frustration, I still failed. I have called all the saints in heaven, bought all the books and studied as much as I possibly can. Still I failed. For an overachiever, failure is poison.

How to move on?

Why I still call it Swine Flu

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It's been months since this rare strain flu virus came out. Now WHO declared the pandemic and this scares the shit out of me. One reason and perhaps the only reason is the fact that I'm such a sickly person who boasts a stunning record of 2 fevers, daily allergies, 3-day dysmenorrhea, 2 sore throat/tonsilitis -- all of these in one month! Yes, one month and I can make any small clinic rich! Growing up, I have been confined in the hospital twice. First was due to UTI, plus Primary Complex and Typhoid Fever. Mind you, I was confined for the 3 diseases. Next was due to a stupid accident where I fell from my double decked bed. Yes, I fractured my arm. So my unbelievably low resistance immune system coupled with clumsiness and bad luck, I am a walking magnet for illnesses. That's the reason why I had to cover my nose the entire time I'm out of the house nowadays. I'm too cool to wear a face mask so I had to bear with having to hold my hanky to my nose. If this keeps off the virus then I would tirelessly do this. So why do I still call A (H1N1) Influenza, Swine Flu? Simply because I refuse to add another scary disease in my disease vocabulary. I've had enough.

Week 3: So where's Week 2?

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I wasn't able to post a week 2 blog for the simple reason that I'm just too lazy to write one. Week 3 was boring so I figured a tweet about week 3 will suffice. So now I will blog about the two review weeks that had gone by. Week 2 was my birthday week, although I didn't tell anyone in the review that I was celebrating my birthday on the coming Saturday. I was still playing snob so my classmates doesn't have to know. Although my seatmate and I have finally broken the ice.. We discussed one problem that he failed to catch the reviewer's dictated answer. Just a few lines. Atleast I have mustered the courage to finally ask him where is the CPAR bookstore located. LOL I am a few lectures behind some subjects but I feel like I can still catch up. The new books are teeming on my desk, cursing me to atleast touch them. I will, I'm just trying to find some free time with all my facebook, Sims 3 and all that crap. Somebody slap me back to my review! Week 3 was boring for the simple fact that the Commission on Higher Education declared suspension of classes. Yes we are not in college but according to our Review Director we have to comply with the rules. Anyway this Swine Flu is starting to get out of hand. Or it already is. I'm overdosing myself with vitamin C. That is all with my week 2 and 3 weeks. I'll probably blog about my birthday in another entry.

Week 1: Feels Like Kindergarten Once Again

This week, my CPA review classes started. As anxious as I was back when I was still in kindergarten, I just took solace on the fact that my classmates are probably 3-4 years younger than I am. Why feel scared? My seatmate, a guy named Bon Jovi, turned out to be the complete opposite of what I imagined. I thought he would look like a short curly haired dorky kid who loves classic rock bands just because he was named after one. Surprised as I was, my seatmate was an average looking guy who could possibly pass as Richie Sambora's kid with Heather Locklear. Didn't talk to him because I was still expecting the short curly haired dork. Sorry for digressing. Anyway, the week started great because the first subject was Law. I don't know if fate was telling me that I was on the wrong class because I shouldn't be pushing myself into this CPA mess once more and I should be taking up Law at this point in time. But then again, I realized that having Law as a the first subject is probably one way of keeping my attention to this review. I fell in love with Law once again because of the remarkable Law Reviewer of CPAR. The other reviewers were also quite interesting. The legendary Valix's son is actually one of my reviewers. Other legendary authors such as Roque, Bobadilla and Ibay are also on the roster. One letdown for this week is learning the fact that Sir Christopher German was not going to teach in my class. The only reason why I transferred in CPAR was because I might be able to get my motivation once again by hearing Sir German's lectures. But then again, I think, the license itself is the biggest motivation that I have right now. Through all these first week jitters, I think I have done it quite well. I'll just have to keep my pace steady as I sail along the coming four months till October 2009.

I STILL Get Cloned A Lot

As my Plurk, Multiply and Myspace tagline goes "I get cloned a lot", again, I have been victimized by cloning. The other day, I was stumbling on webpages that could help me increase my productivity as a VA and I found this awesome page that lists online productivity tools for VA's. I saw this Copyscape website which checks a website if its content is copied by another site/blog. Randomly, I typed in my wordpress blog, and horror of all horrors, I found a blog that copied one of my posts verbatim! What makes it more infuriating is that this guy who copied my post, reposted "Dating a Rockstar 101" in his post and did not credit me or whatsoever. He didn't even change any word, which makes him look like a complete idiot because I was retelling my dating stories with my husband. Come on! This plagiarizer is a DUDE! And my blog contains phrases like, "my husband is like this and blah blah blah" I also namedropped Steve and Chi in my blog there. What are the chances that this plagiarizer who happens to be a dude, really has a husband, and has a band called Typecast, with Steve and Chi as members? I never thought that I will become a victim of plagiarism! I have never done plagiarism in my entire life, even while I was still a student. I do respect people's intellectual properties. I can't believe that hacking is not the only thing that I should be worried about in the Internet. I really have to be wary of people with no morals and take credit out of other creative people's output.

Now, my wordpress blog is private. Will open it up again as soon as my wounds have healed.

SLEEP EARLY: FAIL

Given last week's working schedule dilemma, I have vowed to sleep early so that I can wake up early and have enough time to work during daytime. Well here's the result: FAIL.

I found out that I couldn't sleep early without having to take Trianon's Melatonin pill. And I couldn't keep myself away early in the morning without having to resort to brewed coffee. I am still the old Ana who works more efficiently during night time. Ugh. Old habits are surely hard to break.

One of my favorite online assignments have come to an end. I feel so sad because I have become attached to the company and to my boss who is such a dear person. If only my real life bosses are as nice as her, I'm sure I wouldn't get burned out even after 5 years of working for the same person. =D Anyway, the company is just starting out so my services as a VA isn't needed for now. I have established their social networking accounts so, they are pretty to good to run on their own. I never thought that it's possible to be attached to any of my online jobs. I thought online gigs are very short term and there are no room for loving your work or a particular assignment. Perhaps this assignment had made me feel important, a boost to my self confidence, that's why I have learned to love the job.

I hope in the future, I could again land on another good assignment worth remembering.