What Tony Had to Do with My Becoming a PMP®

A PMP® certificate is a Project Management Professional certificate issued by the Project Management Institute®. This certificate is a professional credential used by project managers all over the world to indicate their skills and education in project management. Although widely used by information technology project managers, the credential has been in place for engineers, design teams, and architects for many years. All these roles require a significant amount of project management skills–typically after five to ten years of working experience.

I obtained my PMP® certification in July 2009 in between a full-time job, family responsibilities, and an online certificate program in project management at the University of Washington. I was going to wait until I completed the certificate program in December of 2009 before taking the exam but decided to fast track everything in typical Jenn-Type-A fashion. I was fortunate to have a supportive environment: Rick (husband), Siddha (son), Bala (dog), and Patches (cat) were all on board and didn’t mind the take out dinners and the neglected flower beds.

So why would I put myself through a lot of stress for a PMP credential?

As the youngest of 14 children, I had the good fortune of spending my preschool years with my retired inventor/mechanic father,  Tony. While my siblings were at work or school, my dad and I regularly spent most of the day at his shop tinkering with his inventions and fixing machinery and equipment ranging from battery-operated toys to motorcycles, cars, and tractors. My six-year-old brain didn’t fully understand his explanations of how things worked, but my curious mind made me eager to listen. I acted as my dad’s assistant—handing him tools, reading labels (one letter at a time) with print too small for him to read, and refilling his coffee cup.

Despite my young age, I marveled at my father’s ability to break down a complex undertaking into smaller mini-projects enabling me to participate. I remember one day going to his shop and seeing what seemed like ten million parts on the floor. When he told me everything I saw on the floor would one day become a motorcycle, I didn’t believe him. He then gave me the task of picking up all the nuts and bolts and sorting them into little jars. By the time I was done, the daunting ten million parts were reduced to a pile of big parts, medium parts, small parts, and my tiny parts–the nuts and bolts.

I don’t remember how long it took him to rebuild that motorcycle, but I’ll never forget my excitement watching him put the parts together and, as if by magic, breathe life into these inanimate objects. The day he took me for a ride on that magic motorcycle was one of the most exciting days of my life.

I remember with sadness that my dad, despite his genius, had always felt he should have finished his mechanical engineering degree.  He’d always regretted not having “credentials.” I am aware that being an inventor or a mechanic has more complexity than just screwing nuts and bolts and parts together. In my eyes, my dad was the smartest man in the planet. To this day, even having grown up in a family of mechanics, I don’t understand cars and I don’t ride motorcycles. But I have learned from my father that for the most part, huge, complex projects can be undertaken successfully by breaking them into bite-size pieces, working collaboratively with others, and never losing sight of the goal.

I will never be as smart as my dad when it comes to putting together anything mechanical but I know he’d be proud to know that although I dropped out of engineering school, I do apply scientific knowledge to practical problems to meet a goal. And that’s why I love project management and decided to get certified.

Thanks, Tony!

P.S. As an added bonus, having a PMP credential as well as being actively involved in the PMI community has allowed me to meet new friends and get involved in exciting projects.

P.S. II

These books were instrumental in my passing the exam.

2 Comments

1. Gwendolyn says:

   January 3, 2011 at 4:37 am

   Auntie, this movie is very beautiful. I miss my mother and Lola I hope you can visit me in Iceland soon. I am going home to Philippines this January 10 2011, so excited. You can also let Siddha visit me and i’m sure my kids will love him as their own brother:) Take care Auntie, always. I miss you…. Nening

   Reply
2. JennReed says:

   January 4, 2011 at 10:16 pm

   Thanks for the comment, Gwen. I have more stories for you so stay tuned. Yeah, would love to get together soon. Let’s plan on it.

   Jenn

   Reply