I started with the PMI Course in late 2024 for the Education Hours. Things were difficult at work and a colleague and I thought certification in Project Management might be a good thing to have. Enter 2025. Work remained iffy, but my colleague decided on a different path. I stuck with the material throughout the year, trying to decide how I would know when I was ready for the Exam. I used Study Hall, I read, I played the interactive games, I took the Practice Exam and Practice Quizzes. . . . Real Life wasn't helping either. But then, PMI announced a New Exam in July of 2026, and that was the catalyst I was waiting for! All that time I'd spent studying had to be used before the Content of the Exam changed in July. I scheduled my First Attempt for March 30, thinking that I could most likely still make another attempt before July if necessary.
I lived and breathed Project Management as much as I could through March. About two days before my Exam Date, I caught a head cold from my husband. At about the same time, my mother told me she was scheduled for some fairly serious surgery on my Exam Day. So that second attempt at the Exam was becoming more of a reality the closer I got to my First Attempt.
Exam Day. I arrive really early, which is a good thing, because finding the Testing Center in the Office Park where every building looks exactly the same is the first test of the day. (The Building Number is ###, and the Office Suite is ###. Where is the Main Entrance??) It's basically Fort Knox when you get there. My reading glasses are allowed, but my tissues are not. (They had tissues in the Exam Room.) I'm give a Locker. My phone must be powered down.
My first 60 questions go relatively smoothly, although I feel as though I'm reading a foreign language. I've been with this material for over a year, why don't I recognize any of this vocabulary?? I soldier on; I do my best. I raise my hand to take my first ten minute break. I drink some water and have some pretzels and cheese in the Waiting Room. A trip to the restroom and I'm back in the fray.
The second 60 questions have me worried. My cold medication is wearing off (but I couldn't have taken more during the Test), I'm coughing. I'm closing my eyes and trying to zen myself into calm. The Test Center provides noise canceling headphones, so my coughs are only disruptive to me, but still! I'm falling behind time wise. I know I need to answer every question, no matter what: A correct guess is a correct answer, but no answer is a wrong answer! I get to my second break and the Proctors don't see my hand raised until my ten minute break is basically a five minute break. I drink some water and gulp down some gumdrops (hoping the sugar will give me an energy boost for the last sprint).
Now I'm looking at my last 60 questions. I'm reading about every third word of the question and then trying to determine which of the Response Options is the best choice. I'm doing fairly well at keeping panic at bay, but I have also pretty much come to the conclusion that I will be retaking the Exam. My goal is still to answer every question. Math calculation? Pick something, Flag it for Review, and move on. I get to Question 180 with about nine minutes left on the clock. I go back to one or two of the questions involving Math and try to work them out. I leave one answer as is. I change another. And then the time is up.
Goodness, how exhausted I am! The Proctor advises me not to complete the Survey (apologies to the entity that would perhaps have benefited), and I gather my belongings and head to the Waiting Room. I'm collecting my things from the Locker I was given when another Proctor pushes a paper, face down, toward me saying, "Here are your Results." Definitely can't look at that here, so I stuff the paper into one of my bags and wish everyone a good afternoon.
Outside my parked car, I finally look at the Results. "PASS." I do some sort of celebratory fist pumps, but I really only half believe what I've read. I get into the car, but I can't drive home yet. I call my parents to find out how my mom's surgery went. It went smoothly. . . .
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