The story of one wonky and slightly derailed journey towards a hard-earned diploma in internal communication.
Many moons ago I decided I wanted to learn more about internal comms in a proper, professional and planned out way. I never dreamed it would take me so much longer than anticipated.
I wasn’t confident about formal learning. My college days were long gone, I had a busy job as a junior comms consultant at Alive, and I’d recently become a mum again for the second time. I was shattered and sleep deprived, but I was also driven to keep the non-mum part of me motivated.
Learning about the basics
Feeling compelled to formalise the knowledge I had and learn more, I chatted to friends and colleagues about what I wanted to do and in September 2017 I signed up for the Certificate in Internal Communications with PR Academy.
After several trips to the study centre in London over the following year and a lot of hard work during late nights that merged into very early mornings, I was super pleased to pass this qualification with a merit. I came away equipped with the confidence, knowledge and theory to back up the decisions I was making around client projects and campaigns. And I loved it!
This course had reignited my thirst for learning and I needed more! I also wanted to start making amends with myself for choosing a hotel job that I didn’t love and a Ford Fiesta over university back in the day. And that meant reaching further and higher…
I knew of friends in the comms community who were taking more advanced qualifications and I wanted to be like them. What had previously felt entirely unattainable for me was beginning to feel possible.
Learning about bereavement
Again, I started the conversation with my colleagues and began taking tentative steps to sign up. However, before I had the chance, I experienced what was set to be the worst period of my life. One normal morning, at the start of a very ordinary week, my husband Steve left for work and never came home. He was found several days later having taken his own life. I was stunned. And that week which had started off so unbelievably mundane signalled a new, unrecognisable and daunting life for me as a grieving widow and single parent to two bereaved young children.
I had lost my husband, my soul mate, my stability. Studying was off the cards and I was set to learn an awful lot about suicide, loss and grief.
Learning about belief
Fast forward a few years which involved learning to adapt to a new life in a very different way, and slowly, gradually, hesitantly I began to recover my self-belief.
I was ready to keep that promise I had made to myself. I took the leap, and I dived head first into my new professional adventure.
With the understanding of my employers, the patience of my children, the support of friends and family and the guidance of some very special tutors and fellow learners at PR Academy, finally, about five years later than planned, I nailed it!
In January of this year I achieved an excellent pass in the Internal Communications Specialist Diploma, awarded by the CIPR. I felt stronger, smarter and I was bursting with a huge sense of achievement.
Essentially this meant I had reinforced my existing skills and developed new ones that would help me to work on a deeper level, where I could critically evaluate and implement internal comms planning techniques like a pro. It’s also added to the collective knowledge of our team at Alive and enhanced the service we offer to our clients.
Not only had I progressed professionally, I’d also developed myself on a personal level. I’d reminded my children about the value of determination, resilience and hope.
Learning about bouncing back
I’m pretty sure no learning pathway ever really goes as planned. There will always be those little bumpy bits and sometimes the significant side roads that steer you off course for years – literally. But in my experience the feeling of chucking your stuff back in your wagon (or Ford Fiesta) and dragging it back onto the road to finally reach your destination is unbeatable.
By Caroline Roodhouse for Alive!