Dear All,

Undoubtedly it has been a long long journey of six months for me. However before i start with my valuable lessons learnt i must first thank all those who made it possible for me to get here.

1. Allah - who never let my spirit break

2. Family & friends - for always encouraging me

3. My Coach - Fahad Ahmed, PMP. Thankyou for your patience, guidance and support throughout.

4. My boss & coworkers

Well friends, my first advice to you is never quit. Believe you can do it and you will. I lacked this belief, and it was my coach and family & friends, who kept me going and always had the confidence in me that i will pass with flying colors. Its a long, difficult but not impossible, tedious and completely draining journey. Well it was for me. But believe me, once you see that 'Congratulations' screen flash before your eyes, all the effort gone into making that journey seems damn worth it. So without further delay following is my detailed decomposed activity list :)

1. I started my prep in Dec 2011. Joined PMI's Karachi chapter for the initial 35 contact hours. My coach Fahad Ahmed, PMP, also a trainer there guided me through out.

2. Selected Headsfirst, Rita and Pmbok as the final reading material.

3. Enrolled in PMChamp's online training session. This helped me in laying a proper foundation.

4. Joined discussion forums such as pmzilla, pmbest, pmpcert study group, PMPExamforum

5.  Attempted questions from:

                -Rita fast track

                -KimHeldman

                 -Christoper Scordo

                 -Brainbok (including their new formula module), Pmstudy

                 - PmZilla question set

                 -  PMstudy (all 4 tests)

                  - simplilearn

                  - Bootcamp

                   - Olivier 175 qs

                   - Exam Central

                   - BrightHub

                   - Headfirst

                    - Troy test Killer Exam

                    - Dallas PMI Practice Exam Questions

 6. How i practiced ITTOs. I got myself a whiteboard and practiced writing them daily on it for an hour or 2. During the process they automatically got memorised, the linkages became clear and by the end it started making more sense.

7. Thankfully i was granted 2 months off from work in April 2012 for sudies. This really helped me focus full time on the exam prep.

8. I did 2 rounds of Rita and 2 - 3 rounds of PMBOK, including gloassary and other relevant appendices

9. Following pmzilla forum posts alongwith other forums really helped in refining the concepts.

10. I dont know why, but i didnt feel confident about my preparation towards the end despite scoring above 80-85% on all online tests. According to my coach, i had studied too much, was trying to be a perfectionist! :)

11. Please remember, whenever you get a question wrong on an online test, dont think you dont know anything, but see the number of questions that you got right as well. I was too obsessed about why i got the questions wrong, and my coach luckily pulled me out of this despair.

12. Its okay to refer to other online materials, which i did too as long as it doesnt mess up your concepts. Towards the end i tried referring to different sites for questions and not all of them proved authentic and relaiable. Once again my coach came to my rescue.

13. I studied full time daily and was able to cover alot, i think more than i needed to. Gave up all the extra activites, except for some tv shows which i watched to help relax my mind and ofcourse calling friends.

14. I scheduled my date for 4th first, but then rescheduled it to 11th coz i just didnt feel confident.

15. Please focus only on whatever material you have selected for your exam prep and dont add anything extra to it else you'll get confused.

16. Believe you can do it and you will.

17. Do attempt sample test on the day before the exam as it really helps build your confidence.

EXAM DAY!

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Well, today was my exam. And yes i score well. My score:

Intitating: Moderately Proficient

Planning: Proficient

Executing: Proficient

Monitor&Control: Proficient

Closing: Proficient

The exam questions were not at all difficult. Once you do all the practice questions, trust me you're well preapred to handle the real exam quesitons. I didnt even feel the need to take a break. Infact, i was enjoying the test :) Thats right - enjoy the exam. It'll work wonders.

I danced with joy when i saw that 'Congratulations' screen flash before my eyes. I couldnt believe i had really passed the exam!!! I had been soo tensed throughout! I still cant believe im a PMP now!!

Last but not the least, you need to be committed to your goal of becoming a PMP if you truly and sincerely want it.

Wishing all those who are appearing or plan to appear for the PMP lots n lots of good luck.

FYI....it feels super great adding 'PMP' to my name :D

Thanks,

Umme Tameem Qazi, PMP