Misfortune & Superstition In the CPA Board Exams

How many times have we laughed at the horror stories that go with taking the board exams?  Or those eternal anecdotes about weird behavior before, during, and after the actual exams?

One of the oft-repeated anecdotes is the case of the examinee who, having finally lost whatever remained of her frayed nerves, prayed the novena before the review session started when asked by the reviewer to lead the prayer.  I'm not sure if such story is still being repeated in review centers everywhere but during my time, there's always a version of this story no matter which review center you go to.

How many of us have gone to St. Jude Thaddeus' Shrine to plead our 'desperate' cases?  Or given eggs to Carmelite nuns, or have suddenly become regular/devout churchgoers?  I had a friend who, when he was reviewing for the CPA board exams, prayed the rosary, the 3 o'clock prayer, the Angelus, EVERYDAY.  He even goes to church 3x a week.  Not to say that he was just doing it just for exigency (though he never did see the inside of a church after he passed the board), I'm just saying that is how terrifying the CPA board exams is, that non-believers would suddenly become religious and even more so as the exam dates get closer.

My board exam misfortune came a few minutes before the first day of the exams.  I had on my lucky black shirt and I can still remember my anxiety for failing to wear red underpants.  I wore the same lucky shirt for the entire duration of the board exams.  Yes, the shirt remained unwashed for two weeks.

We were already at the PUP grounds then when out of nowhere a whirlpool started acting inside my tummy.  We were only waiting for the signal to go to our respective rooms when tragedy in the form of diarrhea struck.  Rather than hold it in, I decided to make a beeline for the nearest toilet.  It was not the best toilet I've seen but I didn't care.  I had to get that bad thing out of my system.  And I did.  In record time.  The only thing was, PUP's toilet suffered the same deficiency as most university/college toilets all over the country.  It lacked toilet paper.  The only thing resembling a wiping material was a moldy, dirty, rag in the corner of the toilet.  You can form your own conclusion here.  Suffice to say that I was able to get into the exam room on time and absolutely crushed that first subject.

I remember those dark jokes about doing whatever silly thing just to get a little lucky whenever I think about taking the CPA board exams.  Desperation does give birth to desperate, sometimes hilarious measures.