I Can Only Show You Where Things Are

April, May and June is the second window of testing in the insurance industry.  There are four testing windows a year.  The spring/early summer window is difficult.  The weather becomes sunny and staying motivated to study becomes easier said than done.

Advancing your education is a motto at DGK; it’s not but it should be.  We are all licensed either property & casualty or life.  Those licenses come with mandatory education requirements of 24 hours of CE credits every two years.  We all renew at different times so DGK is in perpetual education mode.  Inside secret, many of us have more than 24 CE credit hours in a two year period. 

I am currently taking a course on Ocean Marine Insurance.  You may laugh but Lake Wallenpaupack falls under certain coverages in the Ocean Marine insurance.  The world is a small place and technology allows us to enter into contracts with companies that utilize overseas shipping.  EBay, Facebook and Craiglist have opened markets that were once closed to smaller companies.

 

I find it difficult to study when I’d rather weed my strawberry garden.  I would rather kayak at Lake Winola or down Tunkhannock creek.  I’d rather, well you get the picture.  Staying motivated to study comes from a place more than determination to pass a test.  I want to be able to answer a question a client might ask.  I want to be able to help someone learn the information that I have.  My motivation for studying when the sun is shining is to help someone.

On Saturday, my husband and I took a break from household chores to go to Home Depot and shoe shopping for him.  The shoes were purchased without a hitch.  The herbs I wanted were not organic which caused a problem for me.  While we were there, I was looking at all the ideas they display when a well dressed couple approached the hanging basket of strawberries.  The Home Depot employee escorted them to the location of the baskets and they asked her if they needed to plant the strawberries within the basket.  She replied, “I can only show you where things are; I cannot answer any questions about the plant.”  I could not control my instructional side, I explained everything you ever wanted to know about strawberries in 3 minutes.  They grabbed a basket and thanked me.  My husband asked me if I wanted another job.

When I stop learning, I stop teaching and paying back a community that has allowed me to learn as much or as little as I want.  DGK has provided me with educational opportunities that I do not take for granted.  I find myself a lifelong learner trying to inspire others to learn and share. I hope I inspired the well dressed couple to learn more about home grown container produce and sparked an interest in learning the products the Home Depot employee was locating.  Maybe next time she will gladly say, “Let me show you other container plants we have and their companions.”  I can only hope.