A candidate for the bar exam needs to be deemed of good character and psychologically fit. It is a blessing there is no such standard for the CTP exam, as I am fairly certain that anyone who evaluated me would find me clinically insane to try to study for and pass the exam in thirteen weeks concurrent to completing my capstone project for my MBA. Additionally, I will soon be taking on more responsibility at work due to a co-worker’s impending maternity leave. I have a feeling this is going to be a crazy couple of months. However, since there is no disqualifying pre-test that could render me crazy for undertaking all of this during the holiday season, here goes!

I took the Learning System pretest and can, with 100% certainty, report there is no way I would be able to pass the test if it were given to me tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do before being able to post passing numbers. The real kicker is that I do not just want to pass this exam; I really want to learn the material. I want to know how the clients I work with do their job on a daily basis and how they understand their work. I am in cash management sales at a bank, and I need to know what governs the environment my customers work in and how they use the tools I sell on a daily basis to make their jobs easier and more efficient. The CTP exam is one way that I can strengthen my understanding of my clients.

In brainstorming ways to make this work, my first thought was to pray for a debilitating, traffic-stopping, blizzard to render me housebound for a week to study and cram. After all, this is Minnesota and there is a storm of the century nearly every year.  After further consideration, though, I can’t risk it with La Nina and my weather guy promising a dry winter. Drats, I guess I need to move to plan B: discipline.  In order to learn the material needed to pass the exam in such a short amount of time, I will need discipline. A marathoner, I am more apt to stick to a running schedule if I lay it out long before the race rather than go day by day. This will need to be my strategy going into the studying of this material through the next thirteen weeks.

I will be using the AFP Learning System to study; there are six modules. I intend to work through each module in two weeks, reading, utilizing homemade flashcards and using the online tools provided. I will carve out 1 hour in the morning each day to study. The morning is when I am most alert and able to absorb what I read. This will also ensure that I will not interfere with my MBA studies, which are oftentimes at night and with my study group. I will review flashcards on my bus commute, which gives me an extra two hours or so of study time per week. I will keep you posted on how this all goes, updating you next week. I have a funny feeling my new husband will be doing a bit more housework than normal the next couple months.