Miss me much? The last 3 weeks have been a whirl wind of college applications, studying for my first Ph.D. weekend and also studying for the PMP certification. I’ll give a quick recap below.
College Application
Getting into grad school isn’t easy and it’s even harder when you’re not practicing in your field of study. I am not complaining when I say this, but colleges and businesses discount our military experience. It is assumed that we don’t have any business experience even though we apply many business practices every day. See my blog entry Why You Should Hire the Military for more on this. My application was accepted and now I start my journey. Three short years to Dr. James Renlund.
Studying for the PMP
All I can say is wow, even though the military does practice project management (a project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end), we don’t practice Project Management in the full spectrum covered by the PMP certification. There is so much to project management; even if a seasoned Project Manager would have to study and learn to pass the certification test. I am learning the material, but there is still a lot to learn.
My First Ph.D. Weekend
My Ph.D. weekends are brutal. They are 1830-2100 Friday, 0800-1600 Saturday and 0800-1300 Sunday every 3 weeks. Can you say “no rest weekend?” I am not complaining about this either, in the first two days I have met so many professionals I can’t even begin to describe how overwhelming the experience is. It is also amazing how many times I hear from them “thank you for serving our country.” It is an honor to that we, the military, are appreciated by so many. If ever there is ever a time when I am networking my butt off, it is now. With the plethora of professions at our meet and greets, it is hard not to network. Our guest speaker for this weekend was Dr. Chris Worley, a legend in the Organization Development world. Speaking of OD, as I attended the weekend conference I learn so much about the field from PRACTICING professionals who bring with them real world experience. How cool is that? Thank you again Benedictine University for allowing me the privilege to attend such a great OD program. So far I feel that I made the right choice picking this program and look forward to every new experience. I get to spend time alone with my cohorts tomorrow; it should be interesting to see what the other 19 people are like in an intimate setting. Again I am excited.
Ding, ding, time’s up. I have ranted for my ten minutes and as always I appreciate your readership. Please feel free to ask me questions or add comments to our discussion.
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