In a perhaps ill-advised approach to this project management course I’m taking, I’m trying to power through the last 40% in the interest of completing it by the end of the year, which I realize is somewhat arbitrary, but I like the tidiness of a solid deadline. It feels like I’ve been at this class forever, although I only started it in the summer. One of the barriers I’m coming up against, which I’ve mentioned here before, is the math aspect. The math isn’t even that difficult, but I tend to panic with faced with algebra, and I’m having to familiarize myself with some basic concepts that I’ve somehow been able to skate through life without knowing up until now. I’ve decided that I’m simply not going to blow the math aspect up into a big psychological drama. Yes, I have a math deficit, but I’m perfectly capable of figuring it out, and none of it is particularly complicated. My problem is that I have a hard time with the abstract. I remember once years ago I was talking with a woman who was a steelworker, because I was considering entering their trade training program. When I mentioned my math issues, she told me that most people who think they are bad at math really aren’t; they just need to connect the math to something practical and real-world so that it makes sense to them. I’m definitely finding this to be true. I feel far less frustrated when I focus on the utilitarian reason for needing to know the formulas, and understanding how they are going to actually with help the goal of project completion.
I’ve also been reflecting on the experience of learning a lot of heavy theory after having been in the workplace for over thirty-plus years. My mind tends to drift off of the more abstract concepts into thinking about how all of this is going to concretely work in the real world when faced with actual people and their many varying agendas, issues, motives and drives. I’ve been around a long time now and I know that when learning about a new world, the abstract theory is important to understand, but I also know that it’s going to have the least impact on actually being successful as a project manager, should I ultimately choose to go down that path. Weirdly, (or maybe not considering who I am) I’m also thinking about the enormous potential for a novel about project management. Such high stakes, and so much opportunity for chaos and drama! The possibilities are endless.
Speaking of the practical, or rather, the impractical, here we are again with changing the clocks, the most inane scheme ever devised. Maybe at one time in the distant past this practice sort of made sense, but it’s been wildly outmoded for decades now, and it needs to stop. It actually causes car accidents. They’ve done studies. I am being driven mad right now in general by people making dumb, arbitrary decisions for no good reason, and this is just another sour cherry on top of the frozen dessert of stupidity. (I know that’s a terrible metaphor, and I don’t care.)
It’s a grueling process, but I’m braving my way through growing out the asymmetrical pixie cut I’ve had since COVID. I am sick of my ears being cold in the winter, and I’m ready for something different. So far, it has reached the desired goal of covering most of my ears, so I’m willing to tolerate the nonsense and barrettes and general awkwardness until it gets long enough to be shaped into a new style. I can also see a day in which I just give all this up and switch over to wigs.
Until next time, stay warm and dry out there, and don’t get into any car accidents!
—Kristen McHenry
A most enjoyable and stimulating piece!