What A Week!

Last Wednesday I was eagerly awaiting my first certification test and studying like crazy. I was excited and nervous.

Then on Wednesday afternoon, Miss Goofy saw my uncle helping Grandma into the car. She was wearing her robe and slippers. Later that night we got word that she had been to the local ER and they were sending her down the mountain to a major hospital for testing because they were worried she'd had a heart attack.

She'd been in pain for weeks, it wasn't getting any better, obviously there was a lot of concern.

My first certification was set for 10 the next morning. I had studied for weeks. I was nervous before I heard about Grandma.

But this is where adulthood came into play. When I was younger, I would have panicked and cancelled my test. I'd have cried and been unable to do anything. I knew, of course, panicking was an option but I decided I wanted to do better now. I took a deep breath, and I went back to studying. There was nothing I could do for Grandma, she was in the best hospital in the area. It was up to the doctors to do what they could.

I decided the only option available to me was to take my test and pass. That I had to do what I couldn't do when I was younger. I had to show, not only Grandma, but also myself, that I am an adult and I will get through this.

I didn't knock it out of the ball park, cause it was my first certification and I was terribly nervous. But I did pass and frankly, that's good enough for me. And Grandma told me she was proud of me. I nearly cried.

That put me at 50% complete for the term and 50% complete for my degree. There's a cool graphic that I had on my iPad from the school app. I posted it on facebook but I'll post it here too:

So that was really cool for me to see. I knew it was going to happen when I passed the test but actually seeing it was awesome. And now I can add letters after my name, which is always awesome. 

So it's official, I am Project + Certified. That does not mean I want to be a project manager though. It just means I have the knowledge and am a step closer to my degree. 

I've moved onto my next class. In fact, I started the reading for the next class Thursday afternoon. Friday I formatted the laptop I'm borrowing from the Grumpy Old Man. He'd asked me to remove the pictures and anything else that might be important. So I saved the pics and his documents folder, there really wasn't much on there, and formatted it for school. I worked a bit over the weekend but mostly I just relaxed and got ready for the next class.

I'm hoping to be ready for the next certification before November 1st.  Wish me luck!

Have a great week and go learn something!

On Time!

I have got to figure out how to write a post and then schedule it to post when I want. But that's a post for another day.

Tomorrow I have my first certification test. I'm getting really nervous so I chose to do some yoga this morning. Now I'm more like a limp ball of shaking muscles. That should be good for holding my iPad and studying, right?

So, this first certification is for Project +.  Which is really just a fancy way of saying "How do I take this project, break it down, make it functional and successful, and then pass the product on to the client?"

I understand the basic premise but I'm having a bit of trouble remembering the formulas. My brain is old, what can I say? However, I am confident that I will be ready for this test tomorrow. I actually am looking forward to it. Beyond the nervous part that is.

After I finish this class I move on to IT Fundamentals, which will include: Internet Business Associate, Site Development Foundations, and Network Technology Foundations. I have no idea what is in Internet Business Associates but site development is about building websites, and Network Technology is about networks. Should be interesting.

The last class I have scheduled for this term is a research paper. My thesis for it has to be an arguable statement. I have no idea what I'm going to write for it.

Not sure what I'll do after that. I still have a lot of classes to take and I really want to get this done. Well, I have studying to do.

Have a great week and go learn something!

Oops, I May Have Missed A Week...Or 3

Okay so I've never been particularly good about posting regularly. Except for when I first started blogging. Oh well.

So, I have scheduled my Project + Cert test for the 12th of September. I'm nervous but studying and confident I can do this.

Project Management is a lot like homeschooling. I had lesson plans to prepare which might sound simple but taking a broad concept or learning objective requires a lot of thought. Not only do you need to break down the objective into bite sized pieces, you have to do it so your child can understand. Or your students if you teach in a classroom. That means understanding things like time management, budgets, as well understanding the subject matter.

So I think I had a pretty good basis for project management. The part where I'm struggling a bit is with the formulas. Gotta get those straight in my head.

But I'm looking forward to my test though I am nervous.

I'll post how I did after the test.

In the meantime, have a great week!