Remember the 'Agaony of Defeat'?

The past few months I've been bustin ass to learn a new trade. It's one where I will work from home. That in itself is the biggest draw for me. I'm at this machine many hours of the day anyway - I might just as well start making some money doing it.

Initially, my mentor told me that it would be 2 years before I would be 'hiring material'. At which point, she would give me a letter of recommendation.

That all changed when October rolled around. She sent me an email and said that she would like to offer me a hire date of January 1, 2006!
I was shocked.
I was elated.
I was scared.

So, I've continued to be the student, and all my work is filtered through my mentor. She corrects it and emails it back ... on a daily basis. The corrected files are the best learning tool.

The previous week, my mentor had been quite sick. I continued to do my work and email it. My work sitting in her email continued to build up.

Yesterday, my mentor found herself feeling like brand new and emailed saying that she was going to dedicate the next couple hours to correcting my work.

I was glad she was feeling better and I was glad she would be checking my work.

Then the emails started coming in. I think there were about 25 files -- out of 25, only 2 were error-free.

I chatted her after looking through the list of errored reports, and gave her an out. I asked if she wanted to delay the 'start date'.
She said not.

It would be nice if I felt as confident about my work as my mentor does.
I just don't know if I'm ready for a start date of January 1.