Born to Learn

A close friend once said to me that I should strive to do something about my education every year until I'm at least 30. I was 18 at the time, just completed my A-levels (Zimbabwean equivalent of high school), was about to start marketing management studies and so the suggestion of studying for another 3-4 years would have been acceptable, Twelve really didn't sound all too palatable.

Well, fast forward twenty years and I haven't really stopped studying. My current level of knowledge of Microsoft technologies, particularly Exchange, puts me in the right position to consider Microsoft Certified Master as my next step. It will be a tough slog - folk far more capable than me that have already done it say so, Microsoft Learning says so, the number of those certified up until now says so (under a thousand across all five technologies), the course duration and pre-reading list say so as well - but, if it was easy, you probably wouldn't want to read about it.

Why do it? Money? Hopefully. Deep knowledge about the product? Definitely. I'm still a quintessential geek, after all. Kudos? Without a doubt. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a bit of an ego trip when you achieve something big and become part of a group of people whom you've admired for a while. On top of all of these is the personal satisfaction - setting yourself yet another, tougher challenge - and completing it successfully.

Over the next four months, I have some 5000 pages of pre-reading to delve into, build a lab environment that could probably suffice as a messaging environment of a medium-sized business, head across the pond to Redmond, attend three weeks of super-intensive training, pass three exams and complete a six-hour qualifying lab. And I will post the whole experience here. Join in, provide support, ask questions, offer predictions on whether I will achieve it and when. Or, just touch base occasionally. Hopefully, I will fulfil my aspirations and become a Microsoft Certified Master. Will I ever master my aspirations and finally complete my education? Hope not. One way or another, exciting times ahead.

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Mastering the Aspirations



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