The making of a Certified Genealogist℠
Prehistoric times – end of 2009. Maybe I’ll go for certification someday. When I get a round tuit. And since nobody sells a round tuit, at least not one in my choice of styles and colors, I have plenty of time.
Early 2010. Write a case study to get into Elizabeth Shown Millsā Advanced Methodology and Analysis course at the Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University. Wonder of wonders, get accepted into course.
June 11-15, 2010. Take the course. Get a gold star certificate (meaning I didnāt flub it entirely).
Board for Certification of Genealogists®
June 21, 2010. Take a careful look at the BCG requirements. Document transcription, analysis, research plans. Case study. Kinship determination project (KDP) (full discussion of three generations in one family including two kinship proof arguments). Client report. I donāt even take clients yet. Iām doomed.
June 22, 2010. Realize case study for the IGHR course can be used as portfolio case study. Can ask an in-law or friend to be client. Decide if I stall on the initial application until the very last day, I have 18 months to do this. I can do this. Sure, I can! Well… maybe.
July 2010. Start trying to figure out who Iām going to get to be client to do client report for.
August 2010. Start thinking about a family to write about for the KDP.
September 2010. Start panicking since I havenāt got a client and canāt make up my mind about what family to do for the KDP. Go into usual āwhen in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shoutā mode.
October-December 2010. Make up my mind daily on who to ask to be a client and what to do for the KDP. Change mind daily. Usually more than once.
December 2010. Carefully complete initial application, take it to Post Office and put it in the mail on the last possible day to comply with the terms of award. YIKES! What was 18 months is now 12 months. Iāll never finish on time. Iām doomed!
January 2011. Discover BCG never got initial application. Panic (āwhen in trouble or in doubt…ā). Breathe deeply. Send PDF of application. Okay. All is well. Except I still donāt have a client and canāt decide on the KDP.
February 2011. Get email from BCG, my original initial application was received. Only clue as to its whereabouts since December: a āreceivedā stamp… at the U.S. Department of Justice mailroom. Uh oh… Make final decision to do both client report and KDP on my brother-in-lawās parentsā lines. Which line for which part of portfolio, I have no clue.
March 2011. Document work. Somebody tell me why I picked a four-page document instead of a short one. Change mind on which line is client report and which is KDP. And change again. And again. And again.
April-June 2011. Settle on client report and family for KDP. Run around the east coast like a lunatic gathering records and taking photographs. Almost get shot by property owner getting photo of Civil War tombstone in cemetery on private property. Wonder why I decided this was a good idea anyway. Decide I’m not sure I even like my brother-in-law any more.
June 2011. Finish client report. Brother-in-law likes it. Decide BCG judges will hate it. Too late now. Got to get KDP research done.
July 2011. Finish KDP research. Wish I could rewrite client report. And document work. And even case study which has already been published.
August-September 2011. Start writing KDP final version. And rewriting. And re-rewriting. Conclude that itās never getting any better, time to wrap it up.
October 2011. Print entire portfolio on three-ring-hole-punched paper. Package it up and send it off. Return home, read what I sent in, spot every typo I missed, every mistake I made. Iām doomed.
November 2011-January 2012. Conclude that every single word I wrote was total crap and the portfolio will be sent back without a single judge voting in favor of certification and an express suggestion that I take up basketweaving.
February 2012. Hyperventilate each time anyone utters the phrase āhave you heard from…ā in my presence, even if last part of question is ā… your brother lately?ā
February 24, 2012. Glance at e-mail account on cellphone. Word āCongratulationsā appears. Sender: BCG. Freeze. Stop breathing. Summon courage to peek at email. āCongratulations and welcome! I am delighted to be able to tell you that you are Certified Genealogist℠ no. 1026, effective 24 February 2012.ā
February 25, 2012. Start looking at recertification requirements.
Iām doomed…
Hey, Judy…I think I know why you got the DoJ stamp…
The branch for the Board’s PO Box is in the DoJ HQ on Pennsylvania Avenue.
What was once lost is now found, with a “CG” attached! Congratulations on a job well done.
Thanks, Dave! (And I hope you’re right about that DOJ stamp. Now… about the black helicopter hovering overhead…)
Congratulations, Judith! This is hysterical and at the same time made my palms sweaty all over again. You really are amazing to have done your KDP that quickly! Take your experience, remove the stellar jump start, add about 5 years of indecision about which people to use for what and it’s my experience, too. Thanks for making me remember!
Polly, thank you so much! And don’t be amazed: I didn’t have a choice! There was no way in God’s green earth I was going to stand in front of Elizabeth Shown Mills and the benefactor of the Sheppard Prize and tell ’em I had failed! I mean, really… what a motivator!
Judy, it absolutely wasn’t a question of whether you could do it, just when! I’m so happy for you! Certification is a wonderful achievement š
Thanks, Kimberly!!!
Congratulations!!
Thanks so much!
Judy,
Congratulations! Way to go! I so appreciate your humor in this, thank you for sharing yourself the way you do.
Outstanding accomplishment!
Thanks, Leslie!
Way 2 Go, Judy!!!
Thanks, Harold!
Judy,
Your timeline is not only humorous, but helpful to those who might follow your path. Thanks for sharing your experience. Congratulations on your new perspective and good luck on your renewal.
Mark
Thanks for the kind words, Mark (and for the luck — I may need it!). I’m honored to be following in footsteps of folks such as yourself who’ve done this — repeatedly — before!
Congratulations, Judy! What a pride-worthy accomplishment!!
Thanks so much, Christy! I surely am proud of this accomplishment!
Judy, I think you left out a point on Feb. 24, after the e-mail message – but I’m not quite sure what it was: “Fall on floor in disbelief”? “Laugh myself silly”? “Try to find and re-attach all the hair I’ve torn out”? ???
I’ll add my “congratulations” to theirs!
Martha
I didn’t have a chance to do all of those things, Martha! I was too busy trying to breathe!
Thanks for the congratulations!
Hey, can you help me out with sumptin? My wife is my sister AND my mother. What’s that gonna do to my family tree? I dunno what to call my son. Is it brother, cousin, or what? All this here genereol…ginorology…dang it, family hisstury stuff is messing with my haid!
Oh, brother (literally). Look who the cat dragged in. I knew I shouldn’t tell my brothers and sisters I was doing a blog, I knew it, I knew it.
Wait a minute, YOR my sister?!? Does that make you my Aunt, or my mom?.
I gather that with the football season over and no hockey games on yet out there, you are bored today, hmmm?
Judy, what a long a winding road you’ve been on! Thanks for the insight on what it takes to be “certified”. Congratulations!
Thanks, Tanya! It is a long and winding road, but oh my! What a place to be when you get here!
Certainly better than the “the fourth judge we called in didn’t think you were quite ready either” letter I got a few years ago… Thanks, so much, for sharing your experience. There was never a doubt in my mind that you would get it! š
Thanks so much, Bill! It’s so hard to know when you’re really ready to try for certification. I was so amazingly fortunate to have Elizabeth Shown Mills telling me she thought I was. And so grateful I was able to prove her right.
I’m taking heart… not ready yet but moving in that direction, and learning all I can as I go. Thanks once more for a very honest and humourous replay of your 18 months of quivering with self-doubt! Cheers!!
Celia, all I can say is do it. Be prepared to doubt yourself, and even your sanity, along the way, but do it.
Congratulations!
I was bowled over by your post’s ending. I was more nervous about REcertification than the original (too dumb to know better at that time.) In all had to relive some of my tense moments “on the clock.”
Also, thanks for this great blog.
Thanks, Jean… but oh my… I’m sorry you sweated so much over recertification! Sigh… I suppose I can always hope I get hit by a bus some time in the next five years!
Well done!
Thank you so much!
Congratulations!
Thanks, Kathy! Sure appreciate it.
I know I was one of the people who has driven you crazy with the “Have you heard from…” questions. Congratulations, and exhale!!
Now imagine going to IGHR after submitting but before hearing back…. š
Thanks, Michael!
And I sure can imagine IGHR after submitting but before hearing back. (shudder) After all, my imagination had me going to IGHR after submitting and after being told I hadn’t made it! Talk about nightmares!!!
Congratulations! Your experience reminded me of that saying – “That which does not kill us makes us stronger” Thank you for sharing your story!
Thanks, Pat! I have to say the adage is correct. And in the “that which does not kill us” department, I keep reminding myself that at least the cemetery property owner didn’t shoot me!
COngratulations! I have an inkling of how hard you worked, and I’m so pleased that it all paid off. I’m sure the view from the CG mountaintop is spectacular.
Thanks so much, Barbara! It’s not easy but it’s sooooo worth it.
Congratulations! And what a great write-up too!
Thanks so much, Wendy!
Wow, what a timeline! That matches up pretty well with what I was envisioning the process would be like. Yikes! Big congratulations to you on your accomplishment!
Thanks, Nikki! I think most people would find the 18 months to be what’s needed — some may take a little less, some a little more. It’s getting to the point where you can do it in 18 months that takes the most time!
I had all of the KDP research finished before I submitted my preliminary application – it still took me the full year, plus another one-year extension (2 full years) and I sent in my application Priority Mail on the day before the deadline. It seems there’s always more to be done, and it’s never ready!
Congratulations, Judy! I so appreciate your honest recap of all the indecision, self-doubt, and hard work that went into the application process. It gives me some hope that one day I might be able to climb that mountain, too. Well done!
Thanks, Shelley, and believe me: if I can do it, you can do it. Climb that mountain! As my friend Barbara Schenck says, the view from up here is terrific!
Congratulations Judy! Nice to see a down-to-earth post about certification. It’s really inspired me to move in that direction myself.
Thanks so much, Blaine! And good heavens, man, your credentials are better than mine! If I can, you can!
Congratulations, Judy! That’s a path I’ve thought might be in my future and it’s nice to see a down to earth account of the process told with your wonderful sense of humor.
Thanks, Nan! And here’s my new mantra: If I can, you can! So go for it!
Judy Dahling! This is wonderful news! Congratulations! Must go – The “tick, tick, tick” pounding in my head is deafening.
Thanks so much, Sheri!
What a wonderful story. Congratulations!!
Thanks, Melinda!! I’m still about 110% euphoric!
First congratulations! Your timeline gave me hope. I have been blogging about the process of certification and it has had several of the same fits and starts you describe. I most recently wrapped up my first (and only) client report and deemed it not right for BCG. I have started over. Good news? My transcription is only one page. :-). Thanks.
Thank you! And Jill, you’ll do fine. Just found your blog, and have signed up to follow your adventure and cheer you on!
WOW! Congrats to you, but I must say Wow! Again. I pray when I get to the road I must travel, there will be hope for me. Thank you for sharing your journey to us newbies. š
Thanks so much, Yvette! And remember my new mantra: If I can, you can!
Greetings Judy!
So glad you weren’t able to find some one who sold a round tuit, and that you decide to getuit instead. Congratulations on your certification! Thanks for sharing with us your worries, procrastinations, doubts and successes with us.
~ Kathryn
Thanks so much, Kathryn! And thank YOU for all the great info about Canadian research!
Congratulations, Judy!!!
Thanks so much, Dee Dee! I’m still on top of the world with this.
Congratulations, Judy – what a terrific accomplishment! And if you have a round tuit to spare, I could sure use one!
Thanks!! I never did find that round tuit, but I did find a new mantra: if I can, you can!
Congratulations, Judy, and thanks for the trip down memory lane! I’m #1013 and heard this time last year (2-23-11 actually), exactly the way you did. I checked email on phone, saw “Congratulations!” My first thought was that it must be spam, someone congratulating me on being chosen at random for some promotional deal. Then the sharp intake of breath when I saw the sender was BCG. I think I read the email about 10 times before I finally told anyone, just making sure I wasn’t misunderstanding!
Many congratulations!
Thanks, Karen! And I’m so glad I’m not the only one who read, and re-read, and re-re-read, the email… And then read it again. And printed it out. And…
Congratulations, Judy!!! You’ve captured the intensity of the experience in such a hilarious way.
Well done!
Thanks, Nancy! The whole experience is one that leaves you teetering between hilarity and horror. Sometimes both at the same time! But oh… what a payoff at the end…
Congratulations, Judy! Loved your blog about the certification process—even after 10 years, I can relate to every word! Thanks for making me laugh about it all. Now, back to thinking about my recertification, due in 2016…yikes!
Thanks, Sandi… but if you’re worried about recertification, then I really AM doomed!!!
Very inspiring, Judy! I think I actually feel the fire lit under my seat.
Go for it, Malissa! If I can, you can!
Congratulations, Judy! Your blog about the certification process is right on. I know just how you feel. My recertification is due in 2013…
Thanks so much, Karen! But man… the number of people worrying about recertification is daunting!
Congrats! Still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do, nor sent in my app, but I’m strangely encouraged by your post!
“strangely encouraged”
Well, you have to be a little strange to put yourself through this process, but oh yeah… I want to encourage you and anybody else who really wants to put skills to the test. It is soooooo worthwhile.
Very fun account! Congratulations on your achievement. Don’t forget to go out and celebrate, before you move on to the next thing.
Thanks, Carolyn! I don’t think my feet have touched the ground yet!
Judy Congrats!
I almost got thrown out of the Family History Library today for laughing too loudly as I read your timeline. How true your descriptions are to the ordeal. But well worth it.
Well done!
Thanks so much, Warren! It is well worth it! But did the letter of congratulations HAVE to give me a deadline for my recertification portfolio already???
Welcome and congratulations on your CG. And a wonderful, certifiable blog!
Thanks, Brenda! It’s certainly been a wild ride!
Did you say that you needed one of these?
http://db.tt/Yey9eSMq
Laughing out loud at that one, Randy, and thanking heavens I don’t need it now! But hey… I’ll be happy to loan that one to anybody else who’s thinking about certification!
Love this! I hadn’t seen it before. And I feel your pain. Need to get my butt into gear here. š
So… get a move on, my friend! You can do it! And I want to see a LOT of new folks with those CG initials after their names!