PFS Paraplanning panel member Scott Buchanan highlights the importance of celebrating our accomplishments and those who have helped us achieve them.
Taking pride in your accomplishments by celebrating them is an integral part of your personal development. Taking the time to recognise your achievements, no matter how big or small helps to boost your self-confidence, motivates you to continue achieving your goals for the future and allows you to identify what it was that allows you to achieve them.
I passed my final exam to become a Chartered Financial Planner back in 2021. I left school at 16 and never went to university. Never in a million years did I think I would ever be capable of qualifying as a Chartered Financial Planner, so I am immensely proud of myself.
Members achieving the Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning, Chartered Financial Planner or Fellowship are normally invited to attend an in-person graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, a ceremony could not be held the year I graduated due to Covid, so I was gutted to miss the opportunity to celebrate with everyone.
Once Covid restrictions were lifted, I was grateful that the PFS acknowledged the impact COVID has had on our lives including the ability to celebrate our accomplishments by inviting all members who graduated between 2019-2021 to the recent graduation ceremony.
Acknowledging the people that helped you achieve your accomplishments is especially important. You can bring up to two guests to the ceremony with you. For me, this meant bringing my mum along to acknowledge all the support she has provided over the years.
Our celebrations began the night before the graduation at 10 pm when we boarded the Caledonian Sleeper train at Glasgow Central Station. After a nightcap in the club car bar, the train set off for London through the night.
After arriving in London at 7 am, we continued our celebrations with a breakfast buffet on the 35th floor of The Shard. I know I’m in the right job because after getting our money’s worth from the buffet, we visited the Bank of England Museum where we got to hold a real gold bar!
Next, we headed for the graduation which was held in Central Hall Westminster. If you ever get the chance to visit, it is an amazing place; Central Hall is full of stunning architecture and has a long history of hosting important events such as being a meeting place for the Suffragette movement in 1914 and the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in 1946. On a more topical note, the FIFA world cup trophy was stolen from the hall just before the 1966 World Cup – thankfully, it was found seven days later by a Border Collie named Pickles! (Unfortunately, Pickles did not manage to catch the culprit who remains at large to this day). So, it was a perfect place to hold the Personal Finance Society Graduation Ceremony!
After checking in, we took the opportunity to recharge with some coffee while chatting with other graduates. No champagne is allowed before the ceremony, unfortunately, which is probably a good idea to avoid stage-related mishaps!
I am planning to start studying towards Fellowship in the new year, so I took the opportunity to ask other graduates about their journey from Chartered Financial Planner to Fellowship. I also joined the PFS paraplanning panel recently, so it was great to finally meet other panel members face-to-face for the first time after months of video calls.
The ceremony kicked off with a speech by the PFS president, Caroline Stuart, who is the first ever paraplanner to be president of the PFS, we then followed this with a recital of the Graduation Oath. As paraplanners, we are an integral part of the advice process, and we all have a moral responsibility to ensure that our clients receive the best possible advice and their interests are always placed first, and the oath is an excellent reminder of this.
Following the Oath, it was time for all the graduates to have their moment and walk the stage, to the sound of cheers and applause from their friends, family, and fellow graduates, and receive their swanky badge to show off their accomplishments which I have been wearing at every opportunity.
Before the ceremony, the part I was most nervous about was walking to the stage, but the PFS events team did a fantastic job of making sure that the ceremony ran smoothly which helped to alleviate the nerves.
The ceremony closed with a moving speech from two-time winner of Chartered Financial Planner of the year, Robin Melley.
After Robin’s speech, it was finally time for a complimentary glass (or 3!) of champagne. I also donned a mortarboard and gown for a photo shoot with professional photographers.
Overall, it was a perfect day to celebrate everyone’s hard work and I would strongly recommend attending your graduation in the future!
Image: Scott and his mother
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