IT Insights Blog — certification

OK! Alright. Things didn’t turn out quite the way I expected for Dub Nation. We did end up with the best regular season NBA record ever (73-9), and another MVP trophy for my man Steph. Unfortunately we got surprised by LeBron and his Cavaliers in the Finals, and the less said about the release of the Curry 2, the better. It was a disappointing denouement to a great season, but I do still have reason to celebrate — the girls’ soccer team I coach went undefeated for a third straight season. (We were a defensive powerhouse, shutting out opponents more than 57 percent of the time and compiling a goal-differential of 4 to 1.)

Think back to the last time that you left a previous employer to take a new job. Something that probably won't appear in the rearview mirror of memory is big splashy news headlines announcing your decision to the world. You probably didn't turn on the television and find fired-up newscasters weighing the merits of your decision, or possibly running you down for turning your back on your former employer. Most of us don't become fodder for an energetic national discussion after making a decision to finally stop working for Company A and go find out what it's like to be employed at Company B.

I’m a firm believer that education is the ladder to a more bountiful and fulfilling life. People with little to no educational opportunities too often face lives of scarcity and struggle. Unfortunately, the cost of education continues to climb at an unprecedented rate. Consumer Report recently partnered with The Center for Investigative Reporting to conduct a survey on the student debt crisis. The 1,500 respondents painted a picture that isn’t pretty — student loan debt in the United States is almost $1.4 trillion, an amount that exceeds all credit card debt!

Paul Stanley, song writer and rhythm guitarist for the American rock band KISS, once said, “Credibility is someone else’s idea of what I should be doing.” It’s interesting that these words came from an artist who was a member of a band that prided itself on being different — really standing out from the crowd. I’m sure there were a number of “someone elses” who thought that KISS should be doing something different, and yet they were one of the most successful bands of their time, and are still one of the most recognizable rock bands to this day.

I enjoy the tomfoolery of Gary Larson, creator of The Far Side, a single-panel cartoon series that used to be the liveliest thing in newsprint. His sense of humor is kind of warped, and I guess that says something about mine as well. One all-time favorite is Larson’s conception of a “dinosaur conference,” where a stegosaurus is at the lectern and he says, “The picture’s pretty bleak gentlemen.The world’s climates are changing, the mammals are taking over, and we all have a brain about the size of a walnut.”