Mickey Robbins is Skilled2Succeed!

My name is Mickey Robbins and I recently completed a class taught at Utah Valley State College offered by Certiport, Inc. The class is titled Skilled2Succeed and is offered as part of Certiport’s Internet and Computing Core Certification Program, or IC³. I found out about the IC³ program in an article written in the Provo Daily Herald. Something in the article just struck a chord in me and prompted me to look into what the program had to offer.

As it turns out, the decision to take the class has completely changed the way I now view my future in the workplace. Where six months ago I was depressed and dispirited about returning to work, I am now energized and optimistic about my chances for success. Where six months ago I was on the outside looking in on the computer world, I now feel I have a solid foundation in computer literacy to build upon. This may sound like overkill, but hear me out..

I have been a “Stay At Home” mom and grandma for 36 years. I have seven children and fifteen grandchildren. During that time my husband has provided very well for our family without my needing to even think about taking a job working outside of our home. But last June all of that changed. My husband sustained an injury at work and shortly thereafter became unemployed due to the injury.

After several months of applying for jobs, I realized the difficulty in finding a job in today’s workplace without computer skills. My sons would say without “computer hacking skills” having seen Napoleon Dynamite one too many times. I applied for work at more places than I can count and never received a call for an interview. School didn't seem to be an option since we didn't have an income and it has been 40 years since I had been in school. While feeling hopeless and wondering what I could do, I read your article in the Daily Herald last September about the Skilled2Succeed program. I called that day and enrolled in the program.

Nervous, intimidated, scared. All words I would use to describe the weeks and days leading up to my first day in class. But those feelings were soon put to rest; although not immediately. The first day of class I felt I didn't know anything and all I did was cry and wonder how a 58 year old “Stay At Home Mom” could learn these new skills. Your kind teacher, Griff handed me a Kleenex and told me to keep going. I knew if I didn't stick with it and learn these skills my self esteem would be crushed even further. With Griff’s encouragement I stayed with it and completed the class.

I passed the last test on February 7, 2007 and am now IC³ Certified. What a great feeling! I grew concerned that Certiport would discontinue the class when several students were unable to continue. It bothered me that Certiport might be spending too much time and effort on just the few of us who were left in the class. Thanks for your starfish story. So glad you included that in your email because I know now each of us are important to Certiport. The feeling of accomplishing this is indescribable. Before I took the first test I almost dropped out of the class.

Thanks to Griff’s encouragement I stuck with it and now have these skills to use in my future employment. This class gave me an opportunity to learn at my own speed and feel comfortable without the pressure I might have felt in any other computer class. I was able to receive one on one help and was never made to feel incapable of learning these skills. Forever grateful to you and Certiport.

With all of my gratitude,
Mickey Robbins

If you move one grain of sand the world will never be the same.

Once there was a man walking down the beach, and he noticed the beach was covered with thousands of starfish that were washed up with the tide. They were everywhere. As he walked along the beach he noticed a young boy up ahead throwing rocks into the ocean. As he got closer to the boy he noticed he was not throwing rocks at all but he was actually throwing the starfish back into the ocean.

He thought. “What a crazy kid. He really thinks he can save all of these starfish? There are thousands of them!” As he got next to the boy he said, “Hey kid, what are you doing? You really think you make a difference?” The boy picked up another starfish, threw it back to the ocean and replied, “I made a difference to that one!”

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it”. Geothe