You might know by now that I didn’t complete my program at Minnesota School of Business for Interactive Media and Graphic Design.  I am one credit shy of graduating.  Complete shock since I was even invited to attend the graduation ceremony and didn’t find out until two days later that I didn’t actually graduate.

Just one credit.  That credit is for a class to make sure I am able to become gainfully employed in the “real world”.

After 27+ years of being successfully employed in the “real world”, I requested some other option than taking the class, a $535 class when it’s all said and done.  They advertise you can receive college credit for experience.  Surely, my 27+ years would cover the one credit class, right?  Let’s take a minute to do the math.  So one credit is approximately 100 hours.  I’m sure there is an exact figure available but I just did some quick math in my head based on a class I took worth 5 credits that ran 5 hours per week and met 9 times and rounded it off.  Let assume we have as much homework required as class time, so we’ll add another 100 hours.  Total 200 hours.

27+ years of employment = 42,000 hours (calculated at 30 hours a week since some years were part time).

42,000 hours > 200 hours.  BUT WAIT! That wasn’t enough to show I had the experience to receive the credit.  I had to prove it by testing out of the class.

Which I failed.

I failed so well (if that makes sense) that I either had to want to fail (not the case) or the interviewer didn’t want me to succeed (bad day perhaps?).  How else do you explain a score of 11.5 out of 28??  Side note:  the .5 comes from my score of 1.5 out of 3 for my lousy handshake  and she had to write in the 1.5 because it wasn’t an option.

Either way, this experience was devastating to me.  It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t pass.

The details are long and boring and almost unbelievable if I hadn’t experienced it personally so I won’t go into all of them.  I’m just grateful that I’ve been able to be employed successfully for so many years since my skills, according to Minnesota School of Business, suck.   Another side note:  Obviously, they don’t and this test out is not a true reflection on my experience and skill level.

This experience completely derailed my focus.  I lost sight of my true goals and what I wanted in life.  It was all I wanted to talk about because it filled my mind every day.  My income suffered.  I’m sure people are sick of hearing about it.  Frankly, I’m sick of hearing about it.

And I share it now because you know how easy it can be to get derailed from your focus and this is a good example of getting so wrapped up in something that everything else slides.  It doesn’t have to be something big; even little things can get in the way.  Life happens.

It’s what you do about it that matters.  How do we get back on track?  How do we move forward?

I took a look at the big picture and what mattered most to me.  I took steps that are in my control to see if I can get this one last credit without taking a class to teach me how to write a resume, network, and interview for a job.  And now, I’m back on track.  If you read my Tweet Sunday night, I said “It’s on like Donkey Kong.”  My silly way of saying I’m back and there’s no stopping me now.

Have you ever been derailed and how did you handle it?