Let me take you on a journey, that started 9 years ago…

Back in 2007 I finished school and started my career in IT.

Masters in Computer Science
After about 6 month in, I decided to get a higher education and applied for evening classes at a college. I also decided not to tell anyone about this… not my mother, not my best friend… nobody 🙂
During the next 5 years I’ve succeeded in passing all the exams with grades higher than an 8 (the Dutch system works from 1-10 where 1 is bad, and 10 is excellent).
This school really motivated me and I got many opportunities to follow classes not even directly related to the education I was following.
To give a few examples, I’ve followed some classes in rhetoric, business management and law.

MBA in Business Management
During my Masters, mainly because of the extra classes I followed, I got interested in Business Management. I also decided at the end of my Masters that I wanted to start my own company in IT someday.
This motivated me to apply for the Business Management study, where I also never went below the grade of an 8. I started this education back in January of 2013 and finished at December of 2014.

Then, I decided to take a break… which lasted for about 2 months 😉 I took this time to retrospect on quite a few things. This also gave my some time to clean house in my private life and decide where to go from here.

Looking at the fact that I still wanted to start my own company, it got me thinking.
Technical knowledge? Got it covered.
Business knowledge? Check.
But what makes a company? What are the corner stones of any company? Yes, it’s employees!
Remembering that I always had an interest in what people think, what motivates them, and the extra classes I followed during my Masters, I decided to look for an education that would fit my needs.

PhD in Counseling and Applied Psychology
This was, by far, for me the most interesting education I ever had. I learned a lot, both about people and more importantly about myself.
I still think fondly of two of my teachers that told me that I was one of their favorite subjects, since I had contradictions within me to spare.
Most of them I created myself, consciously and willingly.
…also here I never got a grade lower than an 8. Looking at the fact that I did this every time, I’m particularly proud of that 🙂
Hence their interest in me 🙂
Oh, before I forget… a lot of you asked me about the subject of my thesis…
Facilitating change: How external changes and influences can contribute to facilitate cognitive changes in individuals and groups.

Where do I go from here?
This plan took many, many years to complete. Lots learned, lots gained… and a few things lost along the way.
I’ll start focusing again on my IT certifications because those have been neglected a little over the years.
Next? Well, keen an eye on this blog because I’ll explain that somewhere during the next week.

For now, signing off…

Jeff.