Connect with SetFocus Alumni…Share in their Experience
Kevin Goff is a SetFocus Superstar!
Kevin is an outstanding and dedicated instructor of the SetFocus SQL and BI Master’s Programs. SetFocus students always rave about Kevin and are thrilled to be in class with him. He also posts a weekly blog entry about topics covered in the SQL/BI area, so be sure to check it out at http://www.kevinsgoff.net/.
In other exciting Kevin news…
Kevin has an article in the July/August issue of CoDe Magazine, which is available now. CoDe, which stands for “Component Developer,” is one of the leading periodicals for developers. They have a subscription base of approximately 30,000 and publish 6 times a year. (http://www.code-magazine.com/)
Kevin is presenting 2 sessions at the upcoming free SharePoint Saturday event in NYC on Saturday, July 31st.
–PowerPivot/Excel 2010 with SharePoint 2010
–PerformancePoint Services 2010.
For session and schedule information, go to: http://sharepointsaturday.org/ny/default.aspx.
For additional upcoming SharePoint Saturday and SQL Saturday events, you can visit:
http://sharepointsaturday.org/default.aspx
http://www.sqlsaturday.com/
SetFocus is thankful to have someone as amazing as Kevin Goff as part of the family!
I received feedback from alumnus Jeremy Patrick today that I knew I wanted to share. Jeremy just reached the 6 month mark at his new job and I wrote to him to find out how things were as well as how the SetFocus .NET Master’s Program prepared him for the work he’s doing.
Among other things, he said that “things are going very well…I received my first raise and bonus 3 months early because I was doing so well…Getting an in depth look at the .Net framework has really helped me get to where I am…Getting the extensive knowledge of Visual Studio 2008 and the confidence that I received from SetFocus helped me get to where I am today.”
It is great to hear that the Master’s Program is preparing people. It’s also great to hear about Jeremy’s success due to his hard work and dedication. Congrats, Jeremy!
I totally blew it for my triathlon training. To make a long story short: went on a bike ride, had a blow out, had to walk, got blisters on my heels, had to keep walking, took my bike shoes off, tried some bare-foot jogging on the hot asphalt road, got more blisters. My feet are out of commission. I am still soaking horribly bruised, burned and achy feet. Dumb.
To all SetFocus alumni out there…I am not sure how to relate that to your studies….how about this? You studied too hard and burst a brain cell? Silly, I know. Maybe you are studying for the wrong certification? Maybe your goals have been set too high?
So I am here to tell you that I am on a “temporary vacation” from my exercise…and besides that I have a horrible cold in my chest and head. I sound pretty pathetic don’t I?
I guess a really good way to look at this is that all of us come up against a predicament of some sort and we can just let it all happen to us and we can give up…or we can take two steps back and find another road to travel. So on that note, I send this message to all of you out there that have had all sorts of signs that tell you to stop doing something…and realize that maybe those signs are right and that you need to take another path to success. I will let you take that thought from here. Should you be doing something different?
My next blog will be about my decision to do a century bike ride. I don’t have to run. If you remember I have been saying that I hate to run. I am not sure why I kept trying to make myself do something that I just don’t like to do. So I am taking a fork in the road and not giving up on my ultimate goal of health and wellness.
How about you? A different Microsoft Certification? Another study method? A topic you find easier and then move to the harder one later? Don’t give up. Find a different path.
Whoo hooooo!!! A great week with a terrific long weekend…lots of time for preparing for my triathlon. That’s why I am late getting something out to you. But now, I’m back to trying to juggle work, family and training. Feeling overwhelmed with it all is NORMAL. I keep telling myself that, so I have to DO something about it. As I was surfing through the vast internet world for answers, I came across this great study guide. It hit home for me and, my guess is that it will do the same for many of you as you prepare for your Microsoft Certification exams.
The author is very clear in the four steps you must follow to success and states that, “…feeling overwhelmed can be a thing of the past when you use these study tips: ”
Of course I find this OUTSTANDING advice because it focuses clearly on what you need in order to MOTIVATE yourself and just GET IT DONE. I remember my running coach…when I said, “I hate to run!”…responded by telling me to slow down, rest when you have to, and don’t expect to be able to run as long as someone that has been doing this for years! The key is finding the best way to do it for YOU! The point she was making was loud and clear. You will HATE it if you save it all up and try to do too much at once. Take it and do it in increments…increments that make sense to you. When you study “…your brain begins to feel tired and stops processing the information… Give your brain a chance to assimilate the information you’ve fed it by taking short breaks between your study sessions. When your body is tired, your brain shuts down making it difficult to retain the information. Take time out …to relax and enjoy the life you’ve been given. Once you feel rejuvenated, get back to those books!”
Lastly, a colleague, friend or family member can be one of the best motivators. “Study partners help keep you accountable, make learning fun, and even help you see things differently.” So, I have a volunteer helping me – my husband. He has been great! (But he wasn’t to begin with!) He started off telling me that I was getting a bit psychotic about my training. We found a way to make this fun. He loves to bicycle…so now I have him going to spin class with me AND riding. Over the weekend we did a 20 mile ride with a soft ice cream break in the middle!
So try it. Here is the article that I have been referencing. Take the tips that work best for you. Good luck! http://iampedu.blogspot.com/2007/05/4-tips-to-make-studying-easier.html
You know that you have good days and bad. Right? OK…so we all have them. My week has been filled with some great training days and then yesterday and today…not so great. The way I figure it…I was due for a not so good one. Yesterday I just called it my “day off.” So today…it’s Monday and I have way too much going on so my priorities chose to all fall around me in confusion. Everyone has those days. We just hope that it can be reduced to no more than one day a week. Right? It would be even better if we had control of all of our days…yeah right!?!?!?!
So here I go again…another tip that might just help one of you out there that is desperately finding a way to get over that hump and just do it! Study and take the Microsoft Certification exam! Remember that we have already been here…All of you SetFocus grads are capable! You have been given the tools and the knowledge. You just need to stay focused. So try this: http://zenhabits.net/are-your-days-crazy-take-control/ . No, I haven’t gone off my rocker looking at “Zen” things. There are actually some really good thoughts and ideas here. The ones I find the most beneficial for me are number 4 and 5. Stop multitasking and control incoming communication. So here is the challenge. Let’s see if we can do this for the next 4 days…per the Zen post, “Turn of IM and chat. Turn off your email notifications and only check it once an hour, or on some other regular schedule. Let calls go to voicemail. You simply cannot respond instantly to every cell phone call, every email, every page, every request at your desk.” Then, let’s have a terrific, fun filled, safe Memorial Day weekend!!! I will get my swimming, biking and running in and you will get your studying done. Not because we didn’t answer our communication…but because we controlled it and took care of it in a focused manner which gave us time to prepare for the task at hand.
I look forward to sharing my success next Tuesday and hope that you will have similar success.
Another happy alumnus…Dino Bansigan
“It was a very good learning experience for me when I took on the .NET Master’s Training Program. The lectures were informative, the labs and projects reinforced what I had learned, and the workshops help me get ready for the job hunt. It was overall a pleasant experience for me.”