Introduction:
This post is all about a personal experience I went through the past couple of weeks which lead to an outcome that I would like to define as positive Karma. Karma is defined by Wikipedia as meaning “an action, work or deed;it also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect).Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and happier rebirths, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and bad rebirths.”
Every person will understand and interpret Karma from their own belief system, Darwin would describe Karma as nature choosing the best possible option ( in this case me lol 
), Richard Dawkins on the other hand would attribute it to pure chance, Kant would probably describe it as the true order of actions in the real world, Buddha would define it as a good deed being repaid, I for one attribute it to God, as being a series of actions driven by a higher force for unknown reasons resulting in an deserved outcome although not foreseen because of unfair circumstances .
Story:
In 2018 I earned the Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) Cloud Platform and Infrastructure by sitting the 70-533 and 70-535 exams. Both of the exams were appearing in my MCP portal and so was the MCSE badge. Just recently Microsoft changed the certification path for Microsoft Azure and new exam/certification structure appeared after which the MCSE was retired so one needed to recertify to stay Azure certified and up to date.
Because I was MCSE (Cloud Platform and Infrastructure) certified, I was able to take the AZ-302 which would earn me the Azure Architect without having to go over all three new Azure exams. I scheduled the exam successfully on Pearson redirected from Microsoft MCP portal which is the normal procedure and a date was set. Because the exam was cheap, I decided to not do any specific preparations and just take them exam knowing that most of it was labs so that’s something I normally do well in.
I sat for the exam and it was a tough one I can tell you that, more so I faced lots of issues navigating the labs. The labs did not move right and left using the mouse and after 30 minutes of trying to figure it out, I found that if I clicked on the middle mouse navigator I could move right or left then I had to click again to stop and again to move and so on. The exam by itself required the full time and with that issue I faced I could not finish all labs and when the time was up, I had many unfinished labs, ones that I know I could have done successfully. Again the exam is tough, lots of labs maybe more than 30 with also scenario questions and standard questions so time is of the essence here . Finally I received a failing grade around 680 from a passing 700 so I was really close but didn’t make it all of which I attributed to the lab technical challenges.
The facility I conducted the exam in made it clear that they cannot do anything from their side so I decided to drop the whole thing and retake the exam at a later time since its cheap and now I know the mouse navigation issue workaround which would buy me 30 min that I needed to finish the rest of the labs. When I came to rebook my AZ-302 exam, Microsoft MCP portal could not forward me to Pearson website stating that I should pass the 535 exam. WHAT ! Not only have I already passed that exam before but I have also successfully scheduled and took the AZ-302 exam as well the same way !!! Time to talk to Microsoft Support.
Practically Microsoft support said we lost your 535 exam results from our portal and that you cannot schedule the exam again unless its reflected in your MCP portal. I sent Microsoft the proof that I have already booked and taken the AZ-302 so how did I do that initially without the 535 exam, second my MCP portal still showed MCSE cloud certified and the 535 is a prerequisite. Unfortunately as with most support personnel, they are static and follow procedure without wanting to understand, they said the only way is to get the official results from Pearson center you took the 535 exam in and that my friends is in a different country and I don’t recall the date nor the center to be honest. As surreal as this sounds, knowing that I actually booked and took the exam before, Microsoft DID NOT do anything to assess the situation and finally I was really frustrated and decided to drop the whole thing.
Fast forward to yesterday while checking my junk email, I received the following email from Pearson VUE:
“Thank you for taking the AZ-302: Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Certification Transition certification exam. Microsoft and Pearson VUE regularly evaluate the performance of our exams, and during a recent review, we identified an issue in the lab delivery that affected your exam score. We have re-evaluated your score in light of this issue, and we’re pleased to inform you that you have passed this exam. Congratulations!”
Not only that but they added the following, “We sincerely apologize for this issue. In light of this issue, we are issuing you a free exam voucher which can be used to take any Microsoft certification exam free of charge. Your voucher numbers and registration instructions are listed below.”
Remember that I did not tell Pearson nor Microsoft on the issue at any stage on the challenges faced in the initial exam and I just wanted to book another one. That my friends is what I call Karma “as being a series of actions driven by a higher force for unknown reasons resulting in an deserved outcome although not foreseen because of unfair circumstances “.
Conclusion:
I knowingly choose to attribute these types of events to God and Religion, not based on ignorance as many “educated” people would like to think, but because I consciously admit that certain events do not have a fathomable reason that the human mind can interpret, I acknowledge that and move on … Yes there was a serious of real actual events that led to this outcome but those reasons were beyond my control and I had no say in them whatsoever despite the personal challenges faced before.
Couldn’t Pearson and Microsoft have noticed the glitch in the lab because many people reported it and/or for so many multiple technical reasons, absolutely yes, but my circumstances and experience with what followed and how the outcome came after unforeseen circumstances is what leads to me to believe that ultimately the driver of all these events is not what others might think of Karma. Reminds me of the movie “ Life of Pie “, actions that actually happened although having the same outcome, can be perceived in many ways, you as a person choose how you want to perceive them knowing that the outcome is the same …
May the Peace, Mercy, and Blessing of God Be Upon You