I received the parchment last week for a course I started about 18 months ago.  No formal graduation, just a small package in the mail.  Additional studies over and above my university studies.

It’s the first thing I’ve done from beginning to end since Ian died.  Wholly and completely without him.  Concept to completion.

I started it because I wasn’t sure my uni studies were the right direction.  Seeking counsel from friends, many thought that this course/profession would be a good fit for me.  

It was a six month course, so I’ve taken a lot longer to do it than is scheduled (but that also seems to be usual with numerous students taking more than the minimum to get through).

Here’s the thing.  I probably won’t even use the qualification.  

It’s something I wanted to use long term in a voluntary capacity rather than paid employment.  Maybe some paid employment while I studied since most roles in the profession are part-time which would have worked nicely, but as I got further into the course, I figured out that some of the core work in the profession is probably not really for me.    

During the course, I interacted with people already in the profession, and I figured out that I’ll get crazy frustrated with clients.   Which probably isn’t the best mix.

So it will probably sit there unused, unless I find a broader community education opportunity where I’m presenting to a room rather than working one on one with a client.

Before, particularly because of the expense of gaining the qualification, I would have pushed to find work to justify the expense, and driven myself bonkers trying to make myself fit.

Now, I’ll happily just walk away.   

Tried.

Didn’t fit.

Chalk it up to experience.