It's Official - I'm NCIDQ Certified!

I found out I passed over a month ago, but it's wasn't actually real until today, when I received this certificate in the mail.  Those of you who know me know that I devoted countless days and hours studying for this exam, since last Summer.  I missed out on so many things during this time - it was a big sacrifice.  

But it was all worth it.

What does NCIDQ mean?  It's the "National Council for Interior Design Qualification".  And per the documentation they sent us to use for announcements and press releases:

Passage of the Examination and earning the NCIDQ credential signifies that Nicole Zeigler has met the standards for education, experience and examination for interior designers in North America.  A minimum of six years of combined education and experience is required before being eligible to take the practice-based Examination.  The NCIDQ Examination is a rigorous, three-part examination requiring examinees to demonstrate competence in a wide variety of aspects that affect the safety of the interior environment.  The Examination covers programming, schematic design, design development, contract documents, contract administration and professional practice, among many other related topics such as codes, sustainability and universal design.

"NCIDQ has long been the standard to identify those interior designers who are uniquely qualified to protect the public's health, safety, and welfare," explains Kim Ciesynski, 2013 NCIDQ President.  "The NCIDQ Certificate is the mark of a professional, and this credential is what every user of a space should look for when choosing or working with an interior designer."

The Council for Interior Design Qualification is an organization of regulatory boards and provincial associations in the United States and Canada whose core purpose is to protect the health, life safety and welfare of the public by establishing standards of competence in the practice of interior design.  More information about the organization may be found at www.ncidq.org.

Considering there are less than 150 NCIDQ certificate holders in the entire state of Utah, I'm pretty proud of this accomplishment, and am already enjoying applying everything I've learned and relearned from my studies to my design practice.