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Marva Wade was the sole Dominican student who journeyed to Trinidad and Tobago to be present at the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and ICATT (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago) Certificate Handing Over Ceremony 2009. The ceremony honours the achievements of affiliates who have successfully completed the ACCA Professional Qualification.  Marva was also the only student from Dominica to graduate from the December 2008 or June 2009 sessions, and was the winner of an award for top performance in the Essentials module for June 2009. 

The Ceremony was held at the ballroom of the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre in Port of Spain, Trinidad and was jointly hosted by ACCA and ICATT. More than 110 graduates from across the region attended.  ACCA Chief Executive Helen Brand, who was in Trinidad to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the ACCA Caribbean office delivered the feature address and met with many of the graduates after the ceremony.

Currently self-employed in the Retail, Shipping and Construction industries in Portsmouth, Dominica, Marva originally elected to pursue the ACCA qualification as far back as 1999.  After an extended period off from her studies she recommenced them in July 2007 and was able to complete the entire 14-paper programme by June 2009 – a commendable feat by any standard. 

In describing her journey to qualification, she comments, “I learnt about ACCA at my first place of employment.  My supervisor at the time was studying for the ACCA exams and the Financial Controller was also a member of ACCA.  They, together with the Human Relations Manager encouraged me to pursue an accounting qualification. After a number of years of pursuing an alternative qualification, I eventually decided to attempt ACCA via the Mature Student Entry Route (MSER).”

She continues, “I undertook the first two exams (MSER exams) through self study using BPP materials.  Then, when I restarted my studies in 2007, I decided to pursue the qualification as a full-time student at the School of Business and Computer Science (SBCS) in Trinidad and Tobago, as I wanted to complete the exams in as little time as possible.  I studied there for two years, during which time I completed the remaining 12 exams, sitting and passing 3 exams each sitting.  In addition to attending classes at SBCS during the semester, I also attended Intensive Block Courses and study schools offered by the Student’s Accountancy Centre in Chaguanas, Trinidad for two out of the five professional level papers.”

Marva was methodical in her approach to the exam. In addition to attending classes full-time, she would prepare study and revision timetables and always tried to stick to them.  She made sure to begin revisions early enough so that she could spend additional time on weak areas and in some cases managed to go over the revision kits at least twice before exams.  She sites study schools held by the learning providers as an immense help in providing ideas for exam techniques as well as an opportunity to get answers to any outstanding issues she might have had about the papers. 

Marva Wade has her sights firmly set on the future, “My immediate aspirations are to continue to grow in my current field using the knowledge I have gained from my studies.  I also intend to gain a masters degree in accounting and finance over the next few years.”

Maria Batson, Manager of the ACCA Eastern Caribbean commented, “Marva is one of those individuals who is not afraid to chase her dreams and she is certainly on her way to achieving them. Having completed the ACCA qualification, she is poised to make a significant contribution to the profession in Dominica and with her proven track record for commitment I look forward to welcoming her as an ACCA member in the next few years.”