Certified! (Or Certifiable?)

I did it! It’s official! I’m a Red Hat Certified Architect. I’ve spent the last few months pursuing this certification pretty aggressively, taking a ton of classes and a series of practical exams. It’s hard to explain just how rare this cert is, and how difficult it is to achieve, if you’re not in the industry. It requires passing five multi-hour exams (on top of the certification I already held). My health and sanity have suffered a bit while I worked toward this, and Brandon was a champion husband and father, filling in the gaps when I was in class or studying late.. But it’s worth it, knowing that I can do it. No, it won’t get me a raise or a better job in the short term. But, it makes me feel good, knowing I can still learn new things and perform at the highest level technically. 🙂 You can verify my cert here!

Brian was so sweet this morning.. I was up early, looking over my notes, feeling a little nervous because 442 was the last exam I needed to pass. I’d been fighting a sinus infection for weeks and the current round of extra-strong drugs were making me feel really weird. I must have looked worried, because Brian said, “What’s wrong, Mommy?” I told him I was feeling nervous about my exam, and that I wasn’t sure I could pass. He came over, patted me on the back and said, “Ohhhhh, Mommy.. It’ll be okay! And if it gets hard, just keep trying! You can do it.” It was so sweet the way he comforted me, I started to cry a little! Then, of course, I had to explain that his words made me so happy and proud, and I was feeling much better! 🙂  He seemed a little worried about me, so I sent him a thumbs-up picture from the testing site.  And you know, his words really carried me through that exam.  What an awesome little guy!  When I told him I had passed that evening, you could have heard his loud “Wooooooohooooooooooo!” all over Raleigh.