Friday, March 2, 2007

Back With A Vengeance

I’m back from the dead my Treasury Certification Program seminar.

Two weeks’ worth of lessons and I managed to review for it for about 4 hours the night before the exam. Cramming at its finest.

And I passed the exams! And now I’m a Certified Treasury Professional and can trade for both Money Market and Foreign Exchange transactions. Or, I had just been certified to play with other people’s money hahaha…

I am happy about the results, especially since I managed to overcome so much stress and frustrations for the past few days leading to the exams. I have to wake up early in the morning to go to the office and then rush to the school for my 1-9pm class, everyday for 2 weeks. The day before the exam I really wanted to cry out of frustration, because some people had this really, really weird timing when they wanted something from you that they could have asked for a long time ago when you're not so swamped with other things to do. I was so tired and stressed out and I have not reviewed enough and I had diligently went to work even if they said I’m not required to (yeah, right) and still they made me feel that I am not trying hard enough. I hate to rant like this especially since everything turned out fine in the end, but there. It was still not a pleasant experience. Good thing my friends were there to cheer me up even if they have no idea that I was so close to breaking down.

Okay, enough drama!

Now for my nerve-wracking exams: my stomach was in such tight knots that morning I fear I was going to throw up. The only prayers I ever managed to say on the way to the school were for Him to ease my nervousness. The exams were really hard (and it’s also a right-minus-wrong so, pressure!!!), and it took all self-control I possess not to punch the monitor. I tried to keep track of the answers I’m comfortable with but quit right away when the results I got were not encouraging. I said another prayer and it was something like: “I know I’ve never failed in a major exam like this before, but I’m not sure I wanted this exam to be my first taste, so please, can you make me fail some other time?” Okay, so not exactly a nice prayer but under the circumstances, can you blame me?

The results were announced about 10 minutes after the last examinee finished (the exam was for 3 and a half hours) but I tell you, I’ve never gone through a longer period of waiting. I was discussing with my classmates some of the questions but I could feel my hands were cold and sweaty from nervousness. When I sat down in front of the examiner, he asked me, “So what do you think? Do you think you did well?”. And I said I’m not sure, and he said that when I said I’m not sure, it means that I have at least some idea on how I did. So I said, in such a whiny voice that makes me cringe each time I remember it, “I think I failed!”. And the examiner went Simon Cowell-like on me and said, “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you... but you passed!”. And I asked him about a million times if he’s sure of that, if he was looking at the right results, and if I really did pass both modules and he was chuckling, “Why is your confidence level so low? How can you think you failed eh you did well kaya!”. I was stammering my 'thank you's as he shook my hand and managed not to scream and shout on my way out. I still have that queasy feeling at the pit of my stomach and my hands were still cold and clammy, but at that moment, I feel like the luckiest girl on this planet.

Even if the certification program was something of a requirement for my job, it was still a wonderful experience. It’s been a long time since I was inside a classroom and it made me miss school even more. There was also a lot of information to be digested and a slight distraction in the form of a very handsome and intelligent classmate. Mostly, I’m glad to meet new people with whom I was able to share this experience. I hope I can still get in touch with them. Also, I’m extremely thankful for the support that my friends gave me, for thinking that I’m good enough to make it through, and for being happy for me when I passed. You guys rock.

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