Going Old School

Several of us here on staff have been given the opportunity to attend a Project Management class as part of our professional development program.  To be honest I think it’s an amazing opportunity not only for growth and job skill enhancement, but to be part of an organization like LIVESTRONG that values you enough to do something like this is very special.

I’m sitting here, though, trying to recall the last time I was in a true academic situation…  it has to be from when I was in the USAF and the best recollection I can think of was in the late 90’s.  Sure, I’ve been to one day training sessions and the like, but I’m talking no kidding night school here for 10 weeks straight – homework, taking notes, new classmates, mid term exam, etc.  But what’s different is the average age of the class: they’re a lot like me, and I’m 48.

Yes, there are more than a few younger folks – I’m guessing in their 30s but I’m a terrible guesser in this area - but no one fresh out of their teen years.  Many are there to get credentialed and work in the career field of Project Management, whereas a smaller group of us are there purely for the practical knowledge that it has to offer and how it applies to our jobs.

What really strikes me about this group, though, is that we all have considerable life experience from which we can draw on.  It’s not like back in the day in High School when I was learning how to factor equations for the first time and some very new knowledge was literally being poured into my noggin.  (Author’s note: I cannot factor an equation to save my life, or anyone else’s for that matter.)  And since Project Management is really an exercise in structured common sense and communication, there’s ample opportunity to cuss and discuss what the right way to really accomplish something is.

As I get ready to break out the books at lunch time, yellow highlighter at the ready, it’s a new challenge with an old familiar ring to it.  I find I want to succeed and yet have a slight fear of failure, wondering what kind of grade I can make along the way.  I like it, and hope that I don’t wait another 10+ years to make it happen, even if it’s old school. Ciao for now – Cb…