Passing the Torch with AWS CCP

## From Underestimated to Cloud Engineers

I've been in tech for about ten years, wearing a lot of hats along the way. I started in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and it's been an interesting ride since. One thing I couldn't stop noticing: there's almost no diversity at most tech companies, and even less of it at the top.

So I started teaching.

## Why the cloud

Cloud is everywhere right now, and for good reason. AWS basically started the industry by trying to solve its own problems. Whether it's AWS, Azure, or something else, cloud touches almost every tech career now. That's why I started here, with the AWS Cloud Practitioner cert.

Six weeks, no AWS experience to exam-ready.

## Who showed up

People from all over, ages 18 to 60. Most had never worked in tech at all. The goal was to give them a foundation in six weeks, in a room where nobody felt weird about asking a question.

## Where it got hard

Networking. Every time. Same with a lot of the core cloud concepts. My job was mostly translation, turning jargon into plain language. What actually worked was learning what each person cared about first, then building the metaphor around that. Once I did that, things clicked.

## The good part

The lightbulb moments. Watching someone connect two things I'd taught weeks apart. By the end they were adding to my slides and teaching each other, which was better than anything I could have planned.

## The slides

130+ slides, heavy on metaphors, EC2 through ELB. Full Deck Link: [TO DO]

## What's next

I'm going to keep putting this stuff out. When one of us gets in, it's easier for the next person.

## Come through

New to this, been doing it for years, somewhere in between: take the resources, use them, pass them on. Each one teaches one.