10 Best Things To Do AFTER Failing an Exam

The results for the Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination given by the Board of Accountancy was already released. After nights of restless sleep preparing and reviewing and re-reviewing (if there's such a word) for the biggest exam of your life, you find out that you didn't make it. You think you can handle it? What are you to do?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Review the list 3 times more.

Just making sure you weren't too sleepy or too pre-occupied with your parents' voices echoing in your brain. Re-read the list and look for your name 3 or more times. Use 'Ctrl - F' for FIND, or do the usual layman's way, browse thru the list with your eyes wide open and your hand slowly controlling the mouse. Slowly.

2. Breathe.

After doing #1, and still your name doesn't magically appear in the list for your own relief and comfort, just gently let go of the mouse and the keyboard, sit back, and keep quiet. Don't react just yet, just sit still and quiet down. Breathe in, breathe out. {click on the "Read the rest of this story here" for the continuation.}

3. Shout.

After taking a breather, go ahead and belt it out. Shout to the top of your lungs, as long as you can for as loud as you want! It's your right. They'd understand. You failed, remember?

4. Let it Flow.

Usually, we get more emotional after voicing out our thoughts or as #3 said, after shouting and waking up all your neighbors and their dogs. So this is quite the right moment to empty all your tear bags and dump it all off. Cry. Cry aloud, quietly, or cry like a crocodile. Just cry it out.

5. Play the emotions off.

Look for something to play with, computer games, video games, board games, whatever games you can find, it's better if you play together with close friends or with your siblings. This will take away the memory of not being in the passers' list for a while.

6. Watch a Funny Movie. Or tickle yourself to death.

Yep. Watch a comedy show, or the newest funny flick. Laughing helps heal emotional wounds and a bellowing, hearty laughter will give you the exercise and energy boost you need so you'll not feel down the whole week.

Word of advice: it's better if you find someone else to tickle you. Tickling yourself doesn't work as effectively as other people doing it to you.

7. Forget your Diet! Eat out.

For most people, comfort food is one of the best consolations. Chocolate for instance, increases the release of endorphins - the happy hormones. Hot foods like chilis, also trigger the same reaction.

8. Do something or watch something scary.

Fear, or the feeling of fear, will also help since it induces a positive mood state later on. Which, naturally and self-explanatorily (another made-up word), will make you feel better. And help you attain short-term memory loss on the results of the exam.

9. Don't be with others like you.

Even if you do all these, but you do it with other acquaintances who also, temporarily, did not succeed, it will all be in vain. Why? Because you cannot discount the fact that at one point or another one of you will start mentioning things about the exam, the things you endured during your review, or yet, will start moping because he/she failed. Always remember that the feeling of being down and/or pitying yourself is more contagious than chicken pox or laughter itself.

10. Forget about it and start preparing for the next exam.

Enough said.


So. Can you really handle the truth? Don't you wanna do everything that's in this list? Or at least one of them? It's better than going berserk. Right?