Finally I passed my first actuary exam!
It has been torturing me for the last 2 weeks. I was not able to enjoy half of my holiday because of it. Besides, a lot of things happened in last 2 days.
This is the story, I was supposed to sit for my exam on 15 Jan. But thing just doesn't go as planned. On that morning, my friend called me and tell me that we need to bring a passport to sit for the exam. And I don't even have a passport. I confirm with another friend again and he said that I can use my debit card also then I was relieved.
After that, I went to the test center with my friend. It took us 15 minutes to locate the place from the lrt station. It was supposed a 5 mins walking distance but we took the wrong route. When we reached there, we were asked to present our identifications. I showed the staff my IC and debit card. And then she asked me: "Do you have another debit card?" At this moment, I know I am doomed. She said that I cannot use that because there is no my name on it. I was panic. I showed her everything I got, my student id, driving license, and none of this can help, it need to be an identification with my signature with it. So it must be a debit card or passport.
If I am not allowed to sit for the exam, my 500 bucks might just fly away like this. I asked if I can reschedule my test but they said I must call SOA. But it's midnight at that time for US. There's nothing I can do for that moment. I just went home worrying that I might not be reschedule my test again and lost my registration fee just like that. After all it's my own mistake as didn't read the instruction carefully. It's worse than failing. I can just wait until night to call to the US. Whatever it is, I just want to know the answer. Time was passing damn slow for that day. At 11pm, I managed to call SOA. I explained my situation to him and he said he will try to reschedule the exam for me but there is no guarantee that I will get a place since it's my own responsible to bring all the identifications required. So I emailed him my info and hope that miracle will happen.
Waited for 2 hours and there was no any reply yet so I just went to sleep. But I woke up at 4am again to check my email because this thing was still troubling me. And yes, he did replied. He said he already rescheduled the exam for me and he also notified the test center that I can sit for the exam without having a passport! I was damn happy at the moment. There was supposed a USD35 rescheduling fee under normal situation, but he did it for me for FREE! Then I saw another email from the test center saying that my exam was scheduled to 12pm on that day. I really didn't expect they will reschedule me to the next day but well, at least they did give me the chance.
I took another 2 hours nap. Wake up doing my final revision. Then headed to the test center again with another friend who was sitting for the exam on that day also. Don't know why I was just more nervous than the day before. Reached there 1 hour earlier. The morning section candidates were still inside the room. And we watched them walk out one by one. The most terrifying thing is most of them failed. All saying that the questions are really tough. This made me more nervous.
Finally, it reaches our turn. It's an 3 hours exam. And I must say that the security is a bit exaggeration. We are not able to bring in anything but only calculator. Even coin, tissue, money are not allowed in the pocket. They even used a scanner like what they use in the airport to scan our body.
I managed to finish 28 questions in time and the remaining 2 I just play guess. After the time is up, there is a survey and feedback section. And seriously I really didn't bother to look into the content and just simply ticking and clicking next as I was too eager to know my result! I bet everyone will be doing the same thing. My heart did stop beating when the result page pop up. And yes, I passed!
My 500 bucks and my hard work are not wasted. I did it! Gonna keep it up. Maybe taking next paper in May or June. I planned to pass all the 5 preliminary exam with the 3 VEE before graduate. I don't always want to be an actuary, but when I do I want to be a top one.
