I’ve no idea why it happened, but this weekend something clicked in me, and weirdly in most of my classmates in the final year of our WSET Diploma. The panic in terms of the volume of work has set in and I’m absolutely shitting it!!
What’s the WSET?
The WSET is the Wines and Spirits Educational Trust, and it’s spreading out around the globe at the minute as a kind of recognition system in a lot of the wine world. It reminds me of the CFA when I worked in finance. You don’t need it to work in the industry, and many people who don’t have it are the most knowledgeable people I’ve met. But if like me you’re new to the proceedings, then this is a way to get accredited quicker than it takes to build up decades of experience.
What’s the Dilpoma?
The Diploma is the last level to do. There’s no point in doing Level 1. Level 2 is where you normally start, and it’s a 3 day course with a multiple choice exam at the end. Level 3 is a 5 day course with a multiple choice, mini essay, and tasting exam at the end. Then the diploma is 2 years!! Sounds like that’s loads of time, right? The volume of work is absolutely nuts.
The Panic Kicked In
I’m off to America next week for a press trip (woohoo!) so I thought I’d nail the America section in one of the 6 units you need to do. It took me all weekend and I’m still going now! And this is just the US. How long are France and Italy going to take me???
Sitting in the class on Monday we all started talking and realized it had hit most of us in the same way at the same time. We’ve got three months til the last 3 exams, and it’s heads down time. *GULP*
Cheers
