Jefferson Locloc probably said it best when he “painted a series of pictures” depicting the struggles and joy of BS Accountancy graduates who were primed to take on the challenge of facing and wishing to pass one of the hardest licensure examinations in the Philippines.
Locloc, a native of Tawek, Taloy Sur, Tuba, Benguet and a successful hurdler of the October 2017 Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensure examination, was task to give a response from the newly installed CPAs who took their oath in Baguio during the ceremony held last November 30, 2017, at the Hotel Supreme.
He gave an animated response that showed circumstances why the different aspirants of this profession took the course and why they had to mix sweat and tears to their college life to be successful in this field where its licensure examination passing rate seldom crosses the upper half of 50% and went as low as 11% in its history.
Here is the full context of Locloc’s description of the process:
“After years of study, we are finally here to take our oath as Certified Public Accountants. It had been a journey of continuous diligence and perseverance. We enrolled accounting having a slight idea how hard it is. Then, we realized it is more difficult than we thought.
From basic accounting to advanced accounting, we experienced tremendous pressure. We were exhausted physically and mentally due to the demands of the course. Despite of fatigue, we did not give up and continued working hard until we finished the degree Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.
Our fight did not stop there. We continued our preparation in taking the licensure examination. As days go by, our nervousness became stronger until we finally took the board exam.
The first day of October until the second day of November had been full of uneasiness, but we felt relief when the result was released. We’ve been in a rough journey but it was worth the sacrifices. We can finally affix those three letters in our name legitimately. We all deserve to be congratulated.
First, congratulations to the passers who dreamed of becoming a CPA since they were kids; to the passers who continued the dreams of their parents; to the passers who enrolled accountancy because it is the trend; and to the passers who took accountancy for no particular reason. Even if we have different reasons in taking the course, we all experienced the hardship to pass the examination.
Congratulations to the passers who were not able to enroll in a review school due to financial reasons. You managed to do well even with limited resource.
Congratulations to the passers who were reviewing while working. It is difficult to understand the topics even if someone is a full time reviewee. You managed your time wisely.
Congratulations to the passers who failed in their first try but did not give up on their dreams. May we continue to support our friends who did not make it and help them regain their confidence.
On a lighter note, congratulations to the passers whose tagline is “nagmahal, nasaktan, nag-aral kaya naging CPA”. You handled the heartbreak and stayed focused. You have just proved it was their loss not yours.
Congratulations to the passers who forgot to take a bath during the board exams. It might have been your lucky charm that day.
Congratulations to the passers who experienced unfavorable physical changes just like numerous hair fall, extreme weight gain or weight loss, wrinkles, pimples, eye bags, and haggardness. You are not alone. We all experienced at least one of those.
Lastly, congratulations to our parents, teachers, friends, and the community. Our success is also your success.
In accomplishing those three letters, many individuals contributed. We should not forget to show our gratitude toward them:
To God for the life He gave us and for the wonders that happened in our lives;
To our parents for their love and kindness and for supporting us from our infancy to date;
To our teachers for their passion in sharing their knowledge and expertise for us to learn;
To our schools for being a great institute of knowledge and wisdom;
To our friends for being there when we need someone to talk to;
To our enemies for the challenges they brought into our lives;
And to the community as a whole for helping us to become who we are.”
He lastly encouraged every passer in the hall that day, especially those who are not expressive in showing gratitude, those who use social media platforms but not in person, to think of all the persons, parents, siblings, relatives, friends, teachers, enemies, and other individuals who influenced and helped them in their lives no matter how small their actions were, and led to utter “thank you” in unison to show their sincerest gratitude to them.
(Locloc is a graduate of the University of Baguio. He was a finalist of the 8th Search for Outstanding Accounting Students of the Philippines in 2016. He was part of a UB team that finished runner-up during the 2016 Search for Regional Accounting Wizards – Cordillera Hub and part of the UB team that won the 2017 Regional BIR Tax-gisan ng Galing.)
By: ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS
