Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Extraordinary

Extraordinary (adj.)-1) not ordinary; out of the usual order. 2) going far beyond the ordinary degree, measure, limit, etc.; very unusual; remarkable. 3) outside of the regular staff; sent on a special errand.

I possess extraordinary talent and coupled with numerous opportunities yields innumerable prospects for me to soar higher beyond the stratosphere. After eight months as an economist, I am looking for a new challenge which is to earn SAS base certification. My next class is this Monday and I know that I have what it takes to pass the test. Furthermore, after one year here, I will seek SAS advanced certification to bolster my professional position. As this section’s residential programmer and data maintenance specialist (a new distinction that I won by aggressively seeking out the most challenging opportunities!), it is important to equip myself with the knowledge to better serve my constituents.

However, I want to venture even further by learning how to program in a foreign language. The remarks made by Bill Taggart from last year’s NBMBAA annual conference left an indelible imprint upon my psyche. He advocated that instead of traveling to Miami with my friends to spend some money going to emerging markets to build professional relationships. Since my birthday is in August, I chose Brazil because its population is nearly 300 million people and has a lot of foreign direct investment pouring into the county. The software company has a country-specific Portuguese site and come spring quarter I will take beginning Portuguese to prepare for this trip. This endeavor conjured up memories about wanting to learn the four major Western Hemisphere languages. I already know English and Spanish. Preparing for Brazil will have me learning Portuguese. Leaving French which I will learn after achieving state residency. Dare to be extraordinary!

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