Practice Makes Perfect
It took me a while, but I finally found a study group for the FSOA. I've been twice now, and it's already done so much for me. The first week we did a practice group exercise, which taught me that I'll be fine if I can keep from panicking and be a little more assertive. This week a retired member of the examining board came to run another group exercise for the people with the closest test dates and to share his wisdom on the exam in general. I think the structured interview section is going to be the toughest for me since I don't have much of an experience record I can pull from to demonstrate my fitness, and that whole assertiveness thing again. One day I will learn that my inherent virtues do not in fact shine around me in an aura of awesomeness, and without years to learn about them by experience no one will know they're there unless I say so.
But the most useful part of the study group is probably psychological. The main benefit of all the practice is that I will know what to expect, and thus be able to deal with it more calmly in the actual exam. It's also good to see the variety in the group: first-time takers, people who have tried five or six times, freshly-minted college grads, people (nearly) old enough to be my parents. There is room for me here. I hope one or two of them will be in my testing session; it would be nice to face the lions with a friend.
But the most useful part of the study group is probably psychological. The main benefit of all the practice is that I will know what to expect, and thus be able to deal with it more calmly in the actual exam. It's also good to see the variety in the group: first-time takers, people who have tried five or six times, freshly-minted college grads, people (nearly) old enough to be my parents. There is room for me here. I hope one or two of them will be in my testing session; it would be nice to face the lions with a friend.