This is a short tale of my path to becoming AWS Cloud Practitioner Certified.
I started down this trail in June 2020 at the recommendation of a colleague, JR. I used the Udemy course by Stephane Maarek and also purchased the extra five exam pack. The first time I went through the course in June, I watched the videos on 2x speed and did not take notes, only paid attention. That was it.
Really, that was it. Many months later, in Dec 2020, the aforementioned colleague got certified, which was a kick in the pants and a fire under my arse. I started by retaking the practice exams. I was doing horribly. I was making anywhere from low 40 to 60%. Fast forward a couple weeks and I’m still doing the same. Obviously the study method wasn’t working. So I reviewed the course notes from Maarek’s course which was a PDF of all his slide decks. I printed off only the most important slides with the overviews. It turned out to be ~39 slides and 20 pages. Not too horrible since they’re slide format and the pages aren’t choke full of content (looking at you, Professor Messer).
With the new study guide papers, I studied them a few times over a couple days and started retaking the practice exams. Now, instead of just reading what was wrong and why, I made notes in the study guide under the appropriate section. Using this method, I watched my score grow to the mid 80’s relatively quickly and gained the confidence to sit for the exam.
I sat for the AWS CCP exam on 18-Jan 2021, two days after making the study guide papers and the day of the exam. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Scheduling was a feat. Times came and went 3 times before I was able to scoop up the only time of 2015 HST. I studied a few more times before the exam and right before even. I took the exam through Pearson VUE, at home, in the guest living area at the house.
Ultimately, I passed. My first certification is done. One down. From here, I’m looking towards the CompTIA Security+ certification. This would be a great ‘entry-level’ cert to have in my pocket should my position at PDC become unsteady.
