[bradknowles]

Note that I have recently taken and passed the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam, and am currently studying for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam. We’re doing study groups at work, based around the material from acloud.guru, which is available to us for free thanks to our employer. I’m leading the AWS CCP study group, and a co-worker of mine is leading the AWS CSA-A study group, which I’m also in.

Yes, it’s a lot of random stuff to remember, much of which doesn’t seem to have a great deal of bearing on the AWS technology that we use on a daily basis in our real work, which I’ve been doing for years. But I am still learning a lot, and I’m convinced that there are important gaps that are being filled in my education, thanks to the classes we’re taking and certifications we’re getting.

I do find that I can listen to the video class material at 1.5x normal speed, and still follow along. It helps things pass along quicker. But for the CCP exam, my first time around I got about halfway through before I gave up and just took the exam cold, because I kept falling asleep during the videos. This second time around, I have to pay more attention, because I’m leading the study group, and I have to help teach this material to others. I did pass the exam the first time, but I plan on taking it again, because I want a higher score.