CFA Level 2: Pass!!!

It's crazy to look at the last time I posted and realize it was nearly 2.5 years ago.  I basically had to stop blogging since it would just be complicated from a compliance perspective at my employer.  I am still very involved in following the markets and options strategies I just can't really discuss it that easily anymore.

Many things have happened in my life in those 2.5 years. It seems like even more things have happened in just the past 6 months, some very bad things, and some very good things.
Luckily, I received the best news in my life to date: I passed level 2 of the CFA exams.  I honestly can't begin to describe how big of a hurdle this was and how great it feels to pass it and be on to level 3.  I always said I never understood those people who completely thought they failed but ended up passing, but now I understand.  It's not that I didn't think I had a chance, because I did study a lot but I figured I would have had to get the best case scenario in regards to how I felt about certain sections.  I also lost probably 1.5 months of studying dealing with some of those bad things right in the middle of it.  I wanted to pass despite all of the obstacles and with a lot of work and a bit of luck I ended up clearing.

I will say though, even after clearing that level I am trying to keep things in perspective.  For anyone who is taking the exams that may read this, they are just tests.  That doesn't mean you shouldn't worry about them or try and do your best or not be disappointed if you don't pass, but there are just more things in life.

For example, yesterday was the actual day results were emailed, but I didn't get an email for some odd reason and no one could tell me why.  I had to wait until it was put on the site this morning to find out.  So I just went to go meet up with some other car guys at Lake Calhoun after work to try and put it out of my mind.  I live probably 1/3 of a mile from the lake and about a mile from the meeting spot so I decided to get some exercise and run over there.  As I'm running I run past a guy who is walking around the lake with some arm crutches that he needs due to what I'm guessing is a genetic disorder.  That right there helped put some things in perspective, especially because at that point I was assuming I failed the exam.  He was out going around the lake enjoying it and here I was jogging past completely taking the ability to jog for granted.  He probably has a lot more to worry about than some stupid financial exam.  Again, that's not to say it isn't a big deal to me but I was glad I had my health and the ability to run or even the ability to worry about passing or failing an exam.  Worst case scenario, I could always take the test again if I wanted.

The same thing happened today on the way to a happy hour as a little celebration.  As we are waiting at the crosswalk there was a lady with a walking stick who was blind.  She asked my co-worker a question on directions and then we went on our way.  We all remarked at how stupid we were to be complaining about some test and how difficult it would be to have to deal with something like that and here she was with likely a more positive attitude than we had.

So in closing, definitely study hard and try your best on the exams but remember, it's just a test.  I had basically just figured I failed and was ready to take the exam again, my view was that even though it sucks to have to wait a year, to try again, I likely picked up that much more material and was that much closer to passing on the next try.  Someone said that regardless of what happens, you are technically always only 2 years away from finishing at any given time(once on level 2).  This is true.  I'm going to put an extra hard effort in on level 3 so I have a good chance of passing the first try.

Good luck to anyone taking the exams!

Ben