Would You Like Some Alphabet Soup with that Holiday Ham? 

ISO? EDI? ASC X12? IDK! Taking my mentor’s advice, I began to study the later chapters. One thing that I found out? There are a lot of acronyms! That makes for good flashcards, but it also means committing quite a bit to memory. I think I understand a bit of it, and my module 6 post test score leads me to believe I do, but there are a lot of acronyms and formats to remember.

I am not too technologically minded, so at times the concepts are difficult to grasp about coding and formatting and how systems feed into one another. These later chapters deal with writing policy and procedure, risk management and technology in treasury. Policy and procedure feel intuitive to me, as does most of risk management, so the hurdle I have in module 6 will be the learning of the technology standards. There are so many different formats and so many different ways to deliver the information; it can feel a bit overwhelming when reading through the chapter.

I just returned from my mother’s home for the holidays, and it was difficult to study. Compounding the commotion that is Christmas, my nieces found out they were going to Disney World. Needless to say, utter chaos reigned! Another unexpected thing I ran into was an instance of a family member being unsupportive of my taking the CTP exam. My sister made a remark to me about how she didn’t understand why I needed to spend time studying when I could be spending time with her. It was an odd remark coming from a teacher, but I think it encapsulates the frustration that inevitably comes when you are a working person trying to add studying to an already full plate of family and friends and job responsibilities. I had to brush it off; I know that there are many others that support my efforts, like my husband. He is more than willing to leave me alone today to go play video games while I am on PTO to study.

There is one more thing that came up last week that may throw a wrench in my ability to study. A wonderful lady I work with received a well-deserved promotion. I am thrilled for her. I also work closely with her, so I have a feeling I will be covering a bit for her until a replacement is in place. Adding to that issue is the fact that I would like to post for a position that has become available due to this movement. I will hopefully be interviewing for a new job within my group in the next few weeks as well. I know it is a long shot, but no one ever regrets trying, so here goes!

I am done with module six for the time being, post test taken and flashcards made. I need to finish module 3 and start/complete 4 and 5. I have exactly 4 weeks to go before exam day. I am looking forward to that day nervously, but the more I get into it, the more confident I am becoming.