Look what I found in the mail today! I must admit, the thick paper and gold embossed seal make me feel a bit better about the past four months of school/work/business-juggling torture.

As previously mentioned, this January I started a course in Foundations of Project Management. The course proved to be extremely challenging. Though hard work gave me an 80% average for coursework, the course’s final exam left me feeling downcast. Meticulously applying knowledge to plans and charters was one thing, but rote memorization of processes, inputs, outputs, tools and techniques was something different.

My certification exam was scheduled shortly after my course’s final exam but, after leaving school, I knew I might not obtain my certification unless I really hit the books. What ensued was 12 hours straight of studying each day until my certification exam. And I’m happy to say that the studying paid off.

I am officially a Certified Associate of Project Management! Now, I just need about a year more of related work experience before I can write my PMP exam. Would anyone like to employ me in a project managing capacity? I need relevant work experience, please! : )

As I previously mentioned, starting in January I’m taking courses in Project Management through the University of Toronto’s School for Continuing Education. In no way have I given up on writing, but as I mentioned earlier, rejection for the YRAC grant gave me a moment of clarity that made me realize that it would be pretty foolish of me to quit my day job in pursuit of art. Even if I were an amazing writer, I still need to eat and live. And I do have other interests beyond writing. I really love Excel, for example, and have fun spending hours creating budgeting sheets for this year, the next and, if it weren’t a little too obsessive, the next after that too. I also like calendars, agendas, and lists of all sorts. For Christmas one year, I asked for a filing cabinet from my family members. These are somewhat embarrassing confessions, I know, but I suppose you could say that I just like to keep organized.

Taking that into consideration, I made use of my alumni credit to UT’s School of Continuing Studies and enrolled in Foundations of Project Management. After I’m finished this course, I’d be qualified as a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM). The plan is to work towards my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification and hopefully apply it to my current company to take it a step further and become a Certified Law Enforcement Planner (CLEP).

Of course, these plans are all relatively new, freshly sown seeds. I have no doubt that I can achieve my goals, it’ll just take time… time to complete my courses, pass my tests, and find the proper work placement and hours.

With that being said, I’m pretty pumped. Project Management is completely separate from writing, and I think that might be a good thing. Everyone needs some space and distance sometimes, I suppose, plus I’m pretty hyped about going back to school. I’ve been out of it for a little while and have been missing the grading atmosphere. Wish me luck!