2012 in Review

Let's see how I did with those resolutions:

Obtain Fellowship - Instead of making FCAS in one clean sweep, I decided to "grow as a person" by failing Exam 9 (I have lots to say about that but another time for that) and skipping Exam 8. No regrets, however, as I got myself a new job to go with my new credentials. I'll take promotion to consultant over passing an exam (almost) any day.

Read Articles - I've been better about this than I honestly thought I would. Maybe it's the pressure of being a consultant, but at this point keeping up on industry news has fallen nicely into my routine.

Wake up! - Starting my new job was a great excuse to get serious about my early to bed/early to rise resolution. Although my team is still mostly late-risers, I've been finding it relatively painless to arrive decently early.

Blog - Ha. See for yourself. Between exams, job hunt, and various personal trials, blogging just couldn't be a priority. I will strive for more balance in 2013, but something tells me that once a month blogging is an overly ambitious goal for an exam-taking consultant.

Research - Possibly my one real regret was not doing enough independent research this year. I have several ideas I'm excited about. Now to put aside the time to work on them.

Study Earlier - Less relevant since I skipped 8 this sitting, but I have already started on Exam 9 (before Halloween, in fact.) Bloom's (on which I have much to say) seems to demand a radically different approach to studying; developing a new method takes time, so I've made sure I have plenty of that.

Getting Things Done - Check. David Allen remains a life-saver for me.

Email - I am now the queen of email organization. Now to become the queen of email reading and responding.

Project Notes - Definitely a carry-over goal for 2013. New company, new projects, new practice, new everything. It's a lot to take in, and I've hardly had the time to breathe. That's unlikely to change in the next few months, but perhaps I can catch my breath some time in March. Oh wait, I'll be studying then. Eh, who needs O2?

VB - I ended up trading this goal for learning SQL. Some progress made, more to go, though I'm not sure I'll continue, since I'm unlikely to ever work at an insurer. Any thoughts, readers?

Candidate Liaison Committee - Mission accomplished. I very nearly panicked and aborted my trip to our annual in-person meeting at ISO's headquarters in New Jersey this month, but in the end I bucked up. I'm glad I did. The new members of the committee are enthusiastic and insightful, not to mention connected to me in surprising ways. We're fond of remarking on the smallness of the actuarial/insurance community, but it's still quite amazing to me how closely connected we all are.

All in all, I'm declaring 2012 a success. I started out the year feeling held back but ultimately came out on top with my ACAS, my new position at a new company, and a great deal of optimism for what's to come in 2013.

Finish strong, 2012.

P.S. I'm writing this in the middle of exam results. Congrats to those I already know passed, condolences to those that didn't (I now know all too well how that feels), and for those still waiting to hear, I hope your pain ends tomorrow. Mazel tov.