So, I did it—I passed my AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam on my first shot! My relationship with AWS started in late 2021, but let's be real, it was pretty casual at first. I was helping out managing a couple of EC2 instances at work, but that was about it.

When it came to hitting the books, I rolled up my sleeves and dived in for three solid days of studying. My go-to study buddies were the Skill Builder AWS course and the AWS Cloud Practitioner course on Acloud Guru. The Acloud Guru course was my main squeeze—it came with three practice exams that really helped me get a feel for what to expect. I also took the official practice exam from AWS and a free one from ExamPro by Andrew Brown on YouTube.

Honestly, the whole learning process was a blast! I learned a ton and felt super grateful for the experience. Now, I've got my eyes set on the next challenge—the Associate - AWS Certified Solutions Architect.

But, it wasn't all smooth sailing. When it came time to schedule my exam, I hit a bit of a snag. PearsonVue wouldn't accept my Nigerian card for payment. Talk about a buzzkill! Luckily, the exam center I wanted to use was super helpful. They let me pay in Naira and even handled the scheduling for me. Big shoutout to them for being awesome—I will definitely be going back there for my next certification.

I will admit, I did have to reschedule the exam a couple of times because I wasn't fully prepared. Each time I rescheduled, it was a reminder to buckle down and get serious about studying.

All in all, my AWS journey has been a wild ride filled with ups and downs, but passing the Cloud Practitioner exam was definitely a highlight. It taught me the importance of hard work, perseverance, and using the right resources. Now, I'm excited to see where my AWS adventures take me next!