Certification!

After 13 months and some odds days of training, I am to be certified as a Train Controller on Tuesday. It has been a helluva long road to travel, but looking back I still have no regrets in my move from the airlines.

While every day has not been as fulfilling a day as Tuesday will be, the learning has really just begun. While training is officially over, there is still an adjustment period of nearly 5 years in which it will take one to feel “comfortable” at the position.

Unlike training my every action will not be scrutinized as when I was in training. The other people I work with will be there to help when needed, offering suggestions in order to make sure the system runs smoothly.

While I do not know what shift I will start out on, I have successfully passed training. I only mention this because there were times I had doubts in my abilities, when I recalled my airline experience. Granted I had been at the airlines 11 years and was discouraged with the company, my pay and management in general, so a change was necessary. But damned if I did not take down the number of a former co-worker who was a manager at my previous employer and was going to text her. I figured if I did that I would be admitting failure and was not going to give up everything I had work so hard for.

So now I will be certified, as my friend, who also worked with me at the airlines is about to begin his training tomorrow. I will make sure he does not suffer the same sort of stress and pressure I have undergone the past 13 months. It really has been the most challenging thing I have done, including 7 years of college and earning my BS degree.