Series 7: the day after
So I ended up failing my first attempt at the Series 7 exam. But that’s not all. It gets worse. What’s worse than failing a test you’ve been studying for a month you ask? Well, I failed it by one question. The passing score is a 70% or 175/250. I got 174 questions correct. Yay me.
My initial reaction? Well at first I was shocked. I thought it was some sort of sick joke. I mean going through the test, I knew I was not performing like I was on the practice exams. The funny thing was that throughout the test, whenever there were questions that I wasn’t sure about, I would just tell myself that each question is only 4/10 of a point. So I went with my gut answer and moved on. So that came back to bite me in the butt.
There are worse things in the world though. I’m almost certain that there’s a lesson to be learned here somewhere. So far, I guess I’ve come up with a few that’ve hit me the last 24 hours.
It is the pains and disappointments in life that makes it real. Like Thomas Paine once said, “what we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly”. I guess in a moment where I experienced a set back, life just seem so much more than a fortress building experience. I mean over the course of the last few years, that’s exactly what college was: What classes could I benefit from? What jobs/internship should I consider? Which clubs/organizations do I want to be invovled in? What kind of friends should I keep in my close circle as those that’ll influence and impact me? The list goes on and on…
That leads me to the next point: There are far more serious issues/problems in the world. There are soliders dying that are my age. What’s more baffling is that they’re dying to protect my freedom and my country. There are homeless people on the streets, there are people who don’t remember what hope is, there are people who don’t have a family or friends that love them… And me having to take a test again 30 days later is really a trivial matter compared to them.
Courage is a very important thing (I’m sure Dan Rather would agree). So I guess the only thing I can do is to take life’s blessings and cherish it. Take life’s challenges and confront them. And finally, take life’s lessons and cherish them. As embrassing as it is to fail a test and everything, I think this humbling experiences is one that has taught and will continue me teach me alot. It is only the blemishes and scars that gives character.
It’s ok pete, at least you did better than we did in Causey’s final
You’re right it’s the failure that makes you cherish what you finally acheive. You’re going to ace it next time.