Exams, Certifications!
I got some professional certifications this year. In reality, this was not one of those things that I had planned. Every time someone mentioned the certification I would think I should do it. But then the cost, the effort, the time and a small fear of failure would put me off!
As it happened, when I got to work one cold January day, two of my colleagues were discussing the exam pretty seriously, one of them was doing the exam in the first week of March. Initially I was not interested but as they started discussing the dates, the syllabus, the books, I was drawn in despite myself. And I started looking at the website, at the syllabus etc and thougt why not. Before long, I had registered for the exam and sent an email to my Manager about taking the day off.
Soon, we were browsing, searching for the recommended book. We searched a few book sites online, called Waterstones and finally got our copies of books. We were quite excited. And then came the study part. Since three of us were doing the exam, we were quizzing each other every morning, searching for sample papers etc. Our conversations revolved more and more on the coming exam and before long we started using some of the vocabulary in the book and exam and then laughing it out when we realized it could be a show-off.
The ides of March arrived and with it the Exam. The week before the exam was pretty tense and exciting. We were well into doing the sample papers and revisions. After a dozen years since my last professional exams, it was back to being a student - books, library visits, sample papers (xerox copies) etc. And I was enjoying every moment of it! Each time I got an answer right, I would be thrilled. When I got it wrong, they had set the questions incongruently - was this a test of English, would be my common lament!
The day of the exam arrived - all the three of us had scheduled exams on different dates and I was the first to go. It was a rainy cloudy day as I walked out of the tube and found my pro-metric centre and the one hour exam just whizzed by. In no time the exam was over and the results displayed. The result read 39 out of 40, Congratulations! I danced out unable to believe my score (my luck) and called my husband and colleagues to share the news.
A couple of weeks later all the three of us had done the exam and passed it in flying colours. And it felt really proud and satisfying that the three of us had DONE it! Hipee!
I have just completed the next level of the exam, this time all by myself and it was not as much fun as the previous time, though I am intensely relieved to have passed the exam!
I wonder if I would have done the certifications by myself and I know I would not have - mainly because of procrastination and boredom! Thank you, dears for getting me this far!
As it happened, when I got to work one cold January day, two of my colleagues were discussing the exam pretty seriously, one of them was doing the exam in the first week of March. Initially I was not interested but as they started discussing the dates, the syllabus, the books, I was drawn in despite myself. And I started looking at the website, at the syllabus etc and thougt why not. Before long, I had registered for the exam and sent an email to my Manager about taking the day off.
Soon, we were browsing, searching for the recommended book. We searched a few book sites online, called Waterstones and finally got our copies of books. We were quite excited. And then came the study part. Since three of us were doing the exam, we were quizzing each other every morning, searching for sample papers etc. Our conversations revolved more and more on the coming exam and before long we started using some of the vocabulary in the book and exam and then laughing it out when we realized it could be a show-off.
The ides of March arrived and with it the Exam. The week before the exam was pretty tense and exciting. We were well into doing the sample papers and revisions. After a dozen years since my last professional exams, it was back to being a student - books, library visits, sample papers (xerox copies) etc. And I was enjoying every moment of it! Each time I got an answer right, I would be thrilled. When I got it wrong, they had set the questions incongruently - was this a test of English, would be my common lament!
The day of the exam arrived - all the three of us had scheduled exams on different dates and I was the first to go. It was a rainy cloudy day as I walked out of the tube and found my pro-metric centre and the one hour exam just whizzed by. In no time the exam was over and the results displayed. The result read 39 out of 40, Congratulations! I danced out unable to believe my score (my luck) and called my husband and colleagues to share the news.
A couple of weeks later all the three of us had done the exam and passed it in flying colours. And it felt really proud and satisfying that the three of us had DONE it! Hipee!
I have just completed the next level of the exam, this time all by myself and it was not as much fun as the previous time, though I am intensely relieved to have passed the exam!
I wonder if I would have done the certifications by myself and I know I would not have - mainly because of procrastination and boredom! Thank you, dears for getting me this far!