Yeah I did. Just 21% for the Quality Management Systems (QMS) test. The first test we, the quality students had when I started my part time studies in Quality.

Today, I lecture stats on the Quality programme… and based on statistics, with that test mark, the probability of me making a sustainable career in quality is bleak hey. True story. Really. If I was betting I would not have put any money on myself.

And in addition to lecturing,  I’ m doing (with difficulty) a doctorate in Quality Management. Yet (shock horror), I have just admitted, for my very first test on quality management systems I only got 21%. And that is absolutely true. Although I studied, I really spent hours and hours studying for that test – it just didn’t “click” at the time.

Anyway, there’s a bit of a long story between “then” and “now”. (All I can say is Thank you Shaun – I owe you, for my career. We all have that friend…. that special friend, that on one random day says something to us and then all Suddenly  – it all makes sense. It clicks. That is Shaun to me.)  I did not give up. I decided I wanted a career in Quality, and I put in the effort. I worked. And I worked, and worked and I worked some more. And now, I have what I dreamed of.

The point I am making with this web log (i.e.. blog) is don’t give up. DON’T damnit. Do not give up; DO NOT GIVE UP.

21% does not mean that is all you are capable of. It is maybe, as in my case, precisely what you need to get to push yourself. It’s what I needed to get. Getting such a bad mark is what prompted me to go out and get Berocca and rethink my approach. And I did. And now I see, feel and I am so grateful that I did.

I am grateful for the desolation I felt. The rejection it seemed to me, that I experienced in every cell of my being. Despite feeling “useless” then, I still decided, by hook or by crook, “useful” is what I was intended to be.

If you get 21%…don’t fret. You got this! It’s part of the plan. But… Just Do the necessary.