october 27, 2008

because i was unemployed at the beginning of the year, i took an aggressive approach in completing the education requirement of the CFP.  i didn’t get any breaks between classes until last month, when due to a funky scheduling of classes i was given a month break.  today was the first day of my last class before taking the CFP exam in march of next year.  while going through introductions at the beginning of class, i found it pretty amazing to reflect on what has changed since my very first class.  i feel like it was only yesterday when i introduced myself as someone that was looking to get into the industry, and starting my first class to earn a CFP.  today i was able to introduce myself as an employee at a well known sf firm taking the last class before my CFP exam.  yay.  the teacher and my firm share some clients, so having already met it felt cool to be one of the kids to know the teacher, hehe.  

also in the class were friends i’ve made from previous classes, group projects, study groups, etc.  the few of us that started the program at just around the same time or are ending the program at the same time (class of march ’09 CFP) were able to give the newer students advice on classes, teachers, and so on which was rewarding in itself.  more than anything, i’m very proud of the small network i created, and that i was able to keep in touch with teachers as well as classmates.  

moving away from being happy about myself… a friend from church hinted at the idea of a ski/snowboard trip in late febuary next year.  being a big skier, and having never been to the big mountains of utah, i jumped on the bandwagon and told him i’d love to go.  i started recruiting other people to go with me… only to realize… i have the CFP exam in march, DUH.  not only will the exam be a big strain on time, it’s going to be a big strain on money too since the firm only reimburses me after i pass.  it looks like i’ll be skipping the ski trip this year.  sad.