Earned

When I started a new job 30 months ago, there was a need to get a big bag that could carry my laptop and several other things. I looked around the house and found a branded bag my husband had brought home from one of the several MCPD’s he has been attending since he became a Certified Accountant with the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN).

MCPD is a Mandatory Continuing Professional Development program, and as stated, it is mandatory for every member of the professional body. A member must attend one every year.

I remember using that bag for less than one month because I felt like an imposter. Maybe if I wasn’t an accountant, I may have not been so bothered…but I remember dropping the bag and getting a brand new one when I got more than two ‘congratulations’ from my colleagues. They had assumed I was Certified by ANAN because I was carrying the bag. Plus, I hated having to explain.

Today, I sip my coffee from a mug I earned after a paper presentation on ‘National Development Plan and the Role of the Professional Accountant’ at my induction into the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN).

Where’s that bag now? I think I should go find it and use it again for a while. I’m certified.