Many who read this post may think I’m a moron. I don’t care. If it helps a few folks at least, that’s ok.
Bought new pencils and sharpener today. I haven’t used these tools in a decade perhaps (took L1 in 2003, restarting program now).
I “practiced” sharpening my high-quality Faber-Castell pencils with my expensive German sharpener. Pencil tip broke. Tried again. Tip broke. Again. No tip. Again. Broke. By then I’ve run through 1/3 of my f#*^$# pencil.
I freaked out a little thinking: “what if I had brought only 1 or 2 pencils to the exam and this s$#* happens?”
Don’t leave anything to chance, you don’t need ANY extra stress that day. Bring more than a few pencils, sharpen your bloody pencils in advance to get a “feel” for it… and yes feel free to leave your snarky comment / meme below (“can’t sharpen pencil, attempting CFAL2, FAIL”, etc etc…)
Last year I bought a 10-pack of pencils for the exam a week before the exam. Opened them up the night before the test and realized they’re NOT pre-sharpened.
I’ve heard stories about some proctors disallowing the use of mechanical pencils (whether or not the CFAI is alright with them) … better safe than sorry.
I brought a ziplock baggie full of everything they allowed. I went with mechaniclal at L1 but I brought 5 wooden sharpened pencils too. And my passport, admit ticket, sharpener, an eraser, gum/mints, extra calculator, pain killers, tissues, keys, my watch and my wallet. I opted against bring calculator batteries or a screwdriver because I like to live dangerously.
My weapon of choice (mechanical). Bought a box of these this year for studying and exam. The clicker is right on the side, with a nice rubber pad for guys like me who have a kung fu grip on the pencil during FRA.
My favorite person to find on exam day is the one with 25 pencils rubber banded together. A few Ticonderogas (they have good erasers) and maybe a mechanical for backup will be plenty.
Bring admission ticket, validpassport, driver’s license, 1 mechanical pencil, 2 pencils, 1 eraser, 2 calculators, a small sandwich for lunch, and hope for the best.
