Dear Reader,
For millions of students attending American colleges and universities, the month of March means one thing: Spring Break. I know when I was in school it was the best time of the year – except for the Spring Break during my sophomore year.

That's the year when two friends, my brother and I planned a week of hiking the Appalachian Trail. Though we were all city boys and really hadn't done much hiking or camping, we were in pretty good shape and figured, how hard could it be? After gathering some gear and consulting a couple of maps, we took off for Virginia and what we thought would be the trip of a lifetime.

The first couple of hours didn't disappoint. We were out in nature, covering a lot of ground and really enjoying our big adventure – until about mile three, when the rain began. Within minutes the trail had turned into a creek with cold water up to our ankles. Of course we'd prepared for inclement weather, right? Ugh, sadly, no. Not only was our footwear insufficient, but we quickly learned that cotton wasn't exactly the clothing of choice in a downpour.

By mile four, supersaturated clothing and the weight of our backpacks began to take their toll. Rookie mistake No. 2 was packing mostly canned food, including family-sized cans of Chef Boyardee Ravioli and Dinty Moore Stew. That evening we feasted like kings, just to lighten our load.

Day two brought another round of hardships as we encountered elevations that made our little hike feel more like a trek up the Himalayas, complete with temperatures and wind gusts that left us freezing and miserable.

By dusk all our enthusiasm was gone – we had been reduced to four broken men: cold, wet, hungry and exhausted. I don't remember which one of us pitched the idea, but by 9:00 that evening we were having dinner at a Pizza Hut, making plans to spend the next several days with a friend and getting our stories straight so our family and friends wouldn't know we wimped out.

Looking back on the experience now, I can admit that overconfidence was our biggest enemy. Clearly our Spring Break hiking trip would have benefitted from some expert advice.

Likewise, you can benefit from wise and experienced guidance to successfully navigate your SAS journey. And we're ready to serve as your SAS Sherpa. You don't have to go it alone.

In this issue of SAS Training Report, you’ll get expert advice that can help you earn a SAS Certification credential. You'll also find tips from our knowledgeable instructors, including how to export data to Excel from SAS^® Enterprise Guide^® and how to become a better programmer.

So whether you’re just getting started or a seasoned SAS professional, let SAS Education be your companion, providing you the direction, training and support you need to reach your summit.

Thanks for reading,
Larry LaRusso
Editor, SAS Training Report