Starting my 42nd year on a high!

It was another extremely busy week and one with lots of peaks and troughs.

I was hoping to get back running this weekend but have been under the weather since Friday.  Richard was very ill last week so it didn’t come as a surprise that I ended up with a cold at the end of the week.

I’ve been working long hard days every day last week and have also been managing with minimal sleep which doesn’t help I know!

I cannot grumble though as today (1st Feb) is my 42nd birthday.

We went into London on Saturday to meet friends for a birthday lunch which was really nice.  I didn’t feel 100% but I am glad we met up as I had a lovely afternoon.

It literally only feels like five minutes ago that I had my last birthday – I do not know where this year has gone!

Apart from the chaos at work etc I did have some very good news last week.  I attended a UX course the week before to acquire a professional certificate in Usability and User.

I have been working in this field for years and have had various roles as Web Developer, Designer, Master and now it would seem the term is UX expert.  In a bid to strengthen my CV and to enhance my real world experience I took the intensive 3 day course.

I found the course very enjoyable but hard at times as I was disturbed by the office several times which meant I could not focus my time as I wanted.

I planned to do the public mock test when I got home the night before the exam but a fatality on the trains meant I had an awful trip home (but not as awful as some!)  I ended up doing to test on the train.  I failed.

I didn’t sleep knowing I failed and stressed myself out on the final day of the course.  When it came to the mock exam I failed again by a few points and once again I think this was due to the stress and pressure I had put on myself to pass…

When I took the exam I was very measured with my approach and methodical in my answering (the German scoring system didn’t help matters) but I have to admit I was not sure how I had done.

I was fairly confident but given the previous mock tests I wasn’t ready to jump around in joy until I got the results.

This Thursday the mail dropped in my inbox (exactly a week after the exam – gotta love German efficiency) with the following news:

You have successfully passed the examination UXQB® Certified Professional for Usability and User Experience.

You scored 31,33 out of 40 possible credits.
This equals 78,33%.
In order to successfully pass the test a minimum of 70.00% was necessary.

Congratulations!

I cannot tell you how happy I was to have received that email!  I am so pleased with my results.  I honestly had to read the note several times for it to go in but I am very very happy that all the hard work paid off.  I am taking this as an early birthday present to myself 😃

Hopefully this week will be a bit more manageable, I’l shake off my illness and get back into running very soon… Watch this space!