The World According to Mitch

I am teaching a MCITP Boot Camp at a training centre in Virginia Beach.  Although the hours of my class require me to be here from 6:30am to 5:00pm, I I am usually here much later than that – last night I left around 7:15.

The reason I bring this up is not to show my level of dedication… If I leave late it’s not because my students are still here and they need me, although if they were I would.  Most of the time it is because I am checking and answering e-mails that are not related to the class, or finishing up a blog article, or looking up interesting new ways of spelling knish.  It is because of this:

There is a student in another one of the classes – I believe it is a Security+ class – down the hall who has been here pretty early every day – have not exactly checked, but when I go for coffee at 7:30 she’s usually at her seat.  She has certainly been here every day when I leave, in the same seat, plugging away at her courseware.

That is not all that impressive, until you realize that I have been here until 6:15 and 7:15 on a couple of nights this week, and she has still been there.  She is plugging away at her labs, reviewing her books, looking up what she doesn’t know.  She is, in fact, doing everything she has to do to pass the course and obtain the certification.

I always tell my students that the difference between passing a (Microsoft) certification exam with a 700 versus a 1000 is bragging rights, and it’s true… just like the guy who graduated last in his med-school class is called Doctor.  There is no difference in the certification.  However there is no such thing as being too prepared for an exam… preparation is knowledge which, if nothing else, instills confidence.  It does not guarantee a perfect score, but it is the only path to passing.

I hope all of my students are going to pass their exams… but I am reasonably certain that this woman will.