So, I just passed the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam; whew! But let me back up. This wasn’t my first rodeo with this material. I was part of a Black Orlando Tech (BOT) Cloud Practitioner cohort last year, and honestly? Back then, it felt like I was reading a foreign language. The concepts were not clicking for me at all; mostly because I had no real understanding of what the cloud even was. Like… I knew it existed, but I couldn’t explain it to anybody with confidence.
Fast-forward to now: I’m in a whole different space career-wise. I’ve been diving deeper into product management, process improvement, and demand management; really understanding business and technical needs from a different perspective. And that’s when it hit me: if I want to level up and be a more well-rounded tech professional, it’s time to start stacking skills like Lego blocks. I figured I’d start with Cloud.
How I Studied for the Cloud Practitioner Exam
Let’s talk study strategy, because I didn’t just vibe my way through this exam.
Being back in the BOT cohort this year made all the difference. Shoutout to the weekly Sunday sessions — they were a game changer. Here’s what worked for me:
- Re-reading the exam guide after the Sunday sessions made everything click harder
- Visual diagrams helped me understand services like VPC, EC2, Lambda, and Route 53
- I used YouTube videos, flashcards, and AWS SkillBuilder to keep things fresh
- Having access to real people asking real questions helped me retain the info way better
At one point, I came across Lightsail during a study session, and something about it caught my attention. The simplicity, the structure, the clear use case… I was intrigued. But more on that later.
As for the exam itself? Not as terrifying as I expected.
Once you understand:
- The AWS shared responsibility model
- Basic security and compliance
- How services work together under the Well-Architected Framework
- And what tools are used for backups, scalability, and cost management
…you’re solid. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give the cloud practitioner exam a 7. Doable — but you do have to pay attention.
What I Plan to Do With This Cert (Spoiler: It Involves Lightsail)
Okay so, here’s where it gets good.
Let’s Be Real. Now that I’m a certified cloud practitioner… I still don’t know everything, but I do know enough to break stuff with confidence. I want to turn theory into practice — so I’m migrating my sweet girl, my WordPress website, The Nerd Bae, from SiteGround to AWS Lightsail.
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What is Lightsail, you ask?
Lightsail gives you a simple virtual server (plus storage, networking, and DNS options) to run websites or web apps without needing to configure 50 things. It’s beginner-friendly, budget-conscious, and gets straight to the point. My kind of service.
The project manager in me immediately saw the opportunity.
“Wait… I could actually build a case around this, spin up a real migration project, and use it as a portfolio piece?”
Say less.
Even though I got some hands-on experience through BOT’s live labs, my brain was already off to the races. In my head, the more unreachable or over-my-head a project feels?
The more I want to do it.
(Like… why am I like this, Lord? 😂)
Starting the Business Case
As soon as I decided I was going to do this, the benefits basically leapt off the page:
- Hands-on AWS experience using real services; not just Hello World tutorials
- Documented project giving me a chance to build a portfolio
- Ability to talk to customers and clients with a wider range of knowledge
- Cost savings over SiteGround (we’ll do a full breakdown soon)
- Full control over my infrastructure, security, and performance
- Learning-by-doing in a way that’s actually fun for my curiosity
Like any business case, I did a full analysis of the potential risks and outlined all the things that could go wrong; with them, a mitigation plan. So… my friends, I could see the vision clear as day. I’m not just building a website, I’m leading a full-on migration project with me and my thousands of readers as the stakeholders.
The Migration Roadmap: From SiteGround to Lightsail
This is where the magic (and minor chaos) begins. Once the business case checked out, I broke the project down into phases — because of course I did; that’s the only way any of this makes sense to me.
Here’s the high-level game plan:
- Back up everything — site files, database, settings, receipts, affirmations… all of it
- Spin up my Lightsail instance and configure the server with all my WordPress essentials
- Migrate the files and database from SiteGround, carefully and with my whole chest
- Update DNS, test the site, and make sure nothing’s broken; or at least, nothing I can’t fix
Even though I passed the cloud practitioner exam, this is where the real learning begins. I get to apply the concepts, troubleshoot in real time, and figure out how to scale something that actually matters to me. Not a sample app. Not a mock scenario. My brand. My baby.
What I Hope to Learn as a Cloud Practitioner
Passing the cloud practitioner exam gave me the foundational knowledge — but this project? This is where it becomes real. I’m not just checking boxes. I’m trying to expand how I think as a technical problem-solver.
Here’s what I’m hoping to walk away with:
- A deeper understanding of real-world cloud problem-solving
- Hands-on experience with cloud best practices like backups, monitoring, and performance tuning
- A working knowledge of how to optimize WordPress on AWS without losing my mind
- A fully documented project I can reference in future interviews or client pitches
Basically, I want to walk away from this not just as someone who passed a cert; but someone who can confidently speak to its real-world application and move into cloud solution architecture.
So You Wanna Pass the Cloud Practitioner Exam Too?
Brand New to Cloud (a.k.a. zero clue what a VPC is)
- Time Commitment: About 3 weeks of intentional, focused study if you can go hard — think 1–2 hours a day.
- Tip: Rewatch videos. Draw diagrams. Say things out loud like “Elastic Load Balancer” until it doesn’t sound like gibberish.
- Mindset: Be patient. You’re not slow, the cloud is just doing the most.
⏳ Busy Schedule / Less Time
- Time Commitment: Spread it out over 2–3 months. You’ll retain more with small, consistent study blocks anyway.
- Tip: Use weekends for longer study sessions, and sneak in flashcards during the week (the AWS Skill Builder app is clutch).
- Mindset: Progress > perfection. Don’t let life stop the learning.
💼 Already Work in Cloud, Just Need the Cert
- Time Commitment: You can probably knock this out in 6–8 hours of focused review.
- Tip: Do practice exams, especially around pricing, billing, and support plans — those questions are sneaky.
- Mindset: You already know this stuff, now it’s just about translating it into AWS’s exact words.
General Tips for Everyone
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- AWS Skill Builder (free) has a full cloud practitioner course — take advantage of it.
- Join a study group if you can — shoutout to Black Orlando Tech because those weekly sessions were life-giving.
- Get hands-on if you can. Even spinning up a free-tier EC2 instance or poking around the console helps solidify concepts.
- Take at least two full-length practice exams before the real one. They’ll humble you, and that’s the point.
You don’t need to be a tech genius. You need discipline, curiosity, and enough audacity to keep going when you want to give up. That’s it.
