Taking an extended leave of absense from candidacy remember, familiar, decided, suspect

Nishant1

It's been a while since I even visited this place. I suspect a few of you remember me, I'm probably new to most of you (though a few OP's are familiar names)

Just curious to how many of you are taking an 'extended leave' from the CFA program? After I failed LIII last year for the ... uh... 4th time I decided it was time for me to throw in the towel for a few years and focus on other things.

My wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy back in February. While I truly enjoy being a father, I can't imagine sitting for the CFA while trying to raise a newborn. Hats off to those of you that have done it. It was only a few weeks ago that I feel like I was getting a handle on things with the little guy.

So in the meantime, I'm at a career crossroads. I work as a consultant on the buyside with a vendor and while I have great contacts in the biz (some of my contacts have been involved with CFAI for decades) I'm not sure how much longer I want to work here. I've been at my job for over 10 years now and while it's leaps and bounds different than what it was when I started, I'm not challenged enough. I've looked at businesses that are slightly outside the asset management industry but I'm not getting many bites.

Also, I find it quite ... interesting ... that CFAI threw a survey at me asking why I didn't register for LIII this year. I really let them have it. I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

Anyway, just venting. I know you guys are a good crowd.