Happy Thanksgiving!

 

                Happy Thanksgiving Blogger family! I am thankful that you’re reading this and I still have an audience after all of these years. I do not take it for granted.

                This 2024 I am thankful that things are finally turning my way. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am grateful that I am receiving many more opportunities. It is like I have finally found what works.

It has been hard acquiring skills, doing interviews, writing many blog posts, content creation. You name it. I have done it since 2018 in Washington, DC. The 2020 pandemic has made things weird; however, I have managed to learn new skills, meet new people and have a new perspective.

                The things that I have learned while here in Cleveland have made me appreciative of never quitting, always doing self-assessments and continuous improvement.

                That continuous improvement spills over to my writing. Even in a world where video rules supreme, writing has always been important. I’ve always prided myself on my English language skills and written communication. Especially as someone who is an economist and in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), communicating to non-tech audiences have been huge in my book.

                I see myself thankful for my Blogger family. I am continuing to blog on this account well beyond when I return to DuPont Circle because why quit now 19-20 years in it? You keep me going and I thank you for this.

Why I’m Now Returning Back to Blogger

 Hey everyone. I know that I have been posting some more here in 2024. I want to let you know why I’m now returning back to Blogger to post.

                Well, a lot has happened in 2024.

·         Graduated from Tri-C

·         Saw momentum in my job search

·         Started going outside more

Graduated from Tri-C

I decided to go back to Tri-C in 2022 because I needed to learn more skills to update myself. I received my MBA in Marketing in 2002. There were no cloud computing, streaming service or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or TikTok. Imagine how different the world is 20 years later. I received my AA in Applied Business May 2024. Check out my graduation photo below.

Saw Momentum In My Job Search

I also am seeing more movement in the job search. The past couple of years, it feels like the pandemic with everything shut down. However, I am happy to have kept learning and professional development. I will say that right now in 2024 both tech and non-tech companies are favoring applicants that are technical with soft skills.

Started Going Outside More

I took my AWS AI Practitioner certification exam at a testing center. It had been 2 years since I set foot in one (to pass my ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity because ISC2 mandated in-person testing). However, getting out there and pressing the flesh make me improve my communication skills. I passed my AI Practitioner exam but this led me to get out more.

PS – I still love doing mainly online things because they save time; but, I may have to get out more.

What Does This Mean For You?

It means more experiences and blog posts. I will be on here with much more content. Thank you for sticking with me. 

Fall is Here

                 I have been walking around in the neighborhood taking photos of the beautiful fall foliage. Red is my favorite color so of course I have found some red leaves.

Confession – Even though I like living in Washington, DC, these Cleveland leaves are unmatched. In my hometown, you get all four seasons. DC ‘fall’ goes from 80 degrees to 50. That is not fall. Enjoy!

Happy November!

Hey there Blogger Family! I know that it has been a while but I am back! To my original blog no less! A lot of things have been happening; but, I am still ready to achieve many of my 2024 goals and get started on some 2025 goals. 

Happy Halloween!

 

                Happy Halloween everybody! This post’s inspiration comes from seeing these four Jack O Lanterns in the grass of DeForest Park in Cleveland, Ohio. I have thought that it is pretty cool to share this with you.

My 2024 Word of the Year: Soar

 

Soar is my 2024 word of the year.

Here’s its definition

2: to rise or increase dramatically (as in position, value, or price)

This year I am soaring personally, professionally and economically.

I Passed My SAFE 5.0 Scrum Master Certification Exam!

 

                Hey everybody! I passed my SAFE 5.0 Scrum Master certification exam retake on Memorial Day! I was so happy that this was over because it was a much harder retake exam than I expected.

I scored a measly 13% on my experiencing program increment (PI) section the first time so I spent a lot of time reading that. I also researched the swim lane, product owner, product management, DevOps CALMR and wrote down the Agile Manifesto every single day to retain that information. And STILL it was hard!

                As an economics major, Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and Project Management Professional (PMP), I will tell you that SAFe is NOT an entry-level scrum certification. I would recommend that you take the CSM first and work in a SAFe environment. If you cannot do those things, I would recommend taking an introductory SAFe course first to learn the concepts independent of the pressure to pass the exam!

                I am very happy to end the month of May on a very high note. I went from having a very weird interview with a lady who had a major attitude, was all over the place but peaked my interest combining lean with project management to my learning that this combination was scaled agile framework (SAFE) to finding a 50% off exam prep course on Eventbrite to failing my first time to earning this SAFe Scrum Master certification!

SAFE 5.0 - Day 4

 

                I took the official Scrum Master certification exam Thursday morning right after midnight and failed scoring 31/45. It stung because I had scored 82% on the official practice test. I also scored a measly 13% on the Experiencing the PI Planning section which I felt did me in. I knew that I was in trouble off the bat when the first question was talking about program board and a swimlane (which I associated with business analysis but later learned that Kanban also used swimlanes.).

                Failing was the best thing that ever happened to me because I got to take all of my feedback and experiences to the instructor. He answered all of my questions, learned about the new score reporting structure and went through the official practice exam again pointing out the trick words. Had I taken the certification exam either during or after the fourth day of class, I would not had been able to have access to the instructor. It would had been anti-climatic. However, by learning from my mistakes it helped matters. I see myself passing the SAFe Scrum Master retake this weekend.

                On a much happier note, my attending this week’s scaled agile training helped me during my scholarship interview. Thursday I had a scholarship interview to win money to sit for the Certified Scrum Product Owner training. Before this scaled agile training, I thought that the Product Owner role only existed in traditional scrum. However, now I learned that the Product Owner existed in scaled agile too. I felt that from the interviewer’s body language that I won the scholarship.