Back To School

Yes it's back to school time. I've decided to pursue my PMP in project management. Oh yes, what does PMP stand for? Project Management Professional. Yes I had to look it up too.

So yesterday I began my first class in a one semester program. I've been back to school in the last sixteen years and taken classes to brush up on some management skills, mostly at UCLA while I was in Los Angeles. Post graduate education with working professionals is much more fun then sitting in a class room with people who may or may not use the course in real life. Everyone is much more vested and the war stories are much more interesting. Instructors are usually working professionals without PHD's or even Master's Degrees for the most part. Real people who teach based upon their years of experience.

Looking back at college I don't recall much of the same experience. Most everything was theory and most of my business classes were taught by Phd's. The one instructor I bonded with was the accounting professor, Christine Taylor. She was a CPA for what is now HBSC. I loved her instruction, it was very real. None of my journalism classes were taught by journalists, I think something was missing there.

At the end of the semester I'll have my Certification in Project Management from The University of Texas at Austin. After that I have to apply for my PMP designation with the Project Management Institute. With my work experience in the past, that should not be a problem, the only obstacle could be the 200 question multiple point exam. I know how much I love testing.

I just wish it was 20 years ago when I could count on my parents for a new back-to-school wardrobe.