Goblin's Study Journal

[That Goblin]

Originally Posted by ktmac

You had beer during the exam? That'd kill me. I had about 3 shots of espresso during my lunch (but I've always taken that research about caffeine boosting the IQ a little far)... It definitely pumped me up though.

I don’t know, maybe I have a high tolerance but the lunch break is over an hour. Your body processes a beer an hour. A second drink would be questionable though.

You might want to consider aroma association considering the sense of smell is the most directly connected to memory. Burn a different scented candle when studying each section. Since you can’t bring candles into the exam room, have a bit of wax from each candle underneath your fingernails during the exam. If you have trouble with any question, start smelling your fingers until the answer comes to you.

[Bühlmann]

I came here to read Goblin's blog and it got hijacked by Mars getting all sentimental about some building in Seattle. Come one guys!!!

[That Goblin]

Day 2: Yesterday

Yesterday was not a happy study day. I went though the taxation section. Reading lists of laws and regulations is not my idea of a good time. I would imagine the majority of my learning from this section will be memorizing lists in a month or so.

Two of the longer TIA lessons crashed halfway though when watching them at the office. I promised myself I would rewatch them when I got home from my softball game. But my fiancée had already opened a bottle of wine when I got home, so my whole evening was shot. I need to be better at resisting temptation at home in the future.

[That Goblin]

Originally Posted by Bühlmann

I came here to read Goblin's blog and it got hijacked by Mars getting all sentimental about some building in Seattle. Come one guys!!!

Its not just him. So many memories for every Seattle actuary about that building.

[That Goblin]

Day 3!

Today went quite well. I moved on to the section on Utilization Management. It always makes me happy to study sections that I have real world work experience with. Any question from these sections I feel like I'll be well prepare for on the exam.
I have some free time this evening. I can either get another day ahead or do something else.

I think I'm going to chose something else.

[That Goblin]

Day 4.

I'm feeling really good. I breezed though the Disease/Case Management study notes due to the fact that I had a large disease management project at my job so many of the concepts were already familiar to me. In my personal schedule, I allocated 3 days to these study notes! I've watched about 1/2 of the TIA videos, I'll watch the other half tomorrow. It's great that I'm running ahead of schedule. Hopefully I'll get about 2 1/2 months to study math problems and note cards.

I'm feeling really good about the exam right now. Last sitting I did really well on the list problems and I feel like I'll be better prepared this time. I will not bomb the math problems like I did last time. I don't see any way I don't pass.

[That Goblin]

Day 5/6/7.

Weekends are hard. I did only a bit on Friday, none on Saturday and am playing catch up this afternoon.

Next week, I'll be more busy at work so I'll probably not be able to take the extra study time that I had been taking this last week. I think I'm going to start disliking studying again.

[PSU2002]

Originally Posted by That Goblin

Day 5/6/7.

Weekends are hard. I did only a bit on Friday, none on Saturday and am playing catch up this afternoon.

Next week, I'll be more busy at work so I'll probably not be able to take the extra study time that I had been taking this last week. I think I'm going to start disliking studying again.

Ya, for a while there I was saying to myself, this studying isn't too bad. Then I hit some of the legal and taxation stuff and changed my mind. Although at least I am into the Manual Rating stuff now. Which is interesting, and actually related to my job so hopefully it gets a little better soon.

[ShowMeDaMony]

Oh boy...I was on a roll for a while but this last week and especially this long weekend have taken a turn for the worse. I'm not enjoying studying either. I want to go out and play! I just want to have time to sleep, socialize, and be normal. I hope I get my drive back.

[That Goblin]

Day 8.

Well folks, I’m into the Manual Rating section. The TIA videos are much longer than the other sections, so I ended up burning out last night and not being able to finish all the videos. I hope I don’t fall too far behind, but as long as I’m started doing problems and memorizing cards by September, I should be fine. This is the section I bombed last exam. I should be taking extra time.