What makes a Champion?
We think a champion can be anyone from anywhere, as long as they strive for goals that are important to them. Cloud Academy is highlighting users, our very own Champions, who take the best of their abilities and make something new happen with the technical skills they learn.
Meet Bill
Meet our first Cloud Academy Champion, Bill Youngman! Bill’s been using Cloud Academy since August 2018, and sat down to talk to us about his career and what he gets out of our platform. You can watch the full interview with Bill below:
Bill is a Software Application Developer in the Production Support Team of his company. When his work decided to move from co-located physical servers to the AWS Cloud, he felt he needed intensive training on the AWS platform, and chose Cloud Academy to accompany him on that journey. This is a big change — both for a company and an individual — and it takes a lot of organization and focus to make it through the process.
How Bill did it
Bill’s first objective was to get certified in AWS. Now he’s about 40% through our Certified Developer – Associate Certification Preparation for AWS Learning Path. This learning path is perfect to help you learn the specific developer tools on AWS as well as get started on DevOps tools and principles.
According to Bill, training with Cloud Academy has helped him a lot in his career. He’s now considered one of the main subject matter experts at his company for all things cloud!
Bill’s way of learning places emphasis on the Cloud Academy hands-on labs. As a Navy Veteran, he thinks the tangible experience of working in actual cloud environments is key to knowledge retention, and it reminds him of effective ways of learning from his military days. By taking labs, he can put into practice the theory covered by our courses, while staying focused on the subjects that matter most to him.
Like for so many of us, learning while holding down a job can be a challenge, but it’s a good one to have. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Bill has been working remotely during the mornings and then dedicating his afternoons to training on Cloud Academy. He plans to keep using Cloud Academy to focus on System Administrator and Solutions Architect content.
Bill’s favorite instructor is Stuart Scott; he likes Stuart’s delivery and the way he explains topics in an easy-to-understand way. Watch the interview with Bill to learn more, and stay tuned for more Cloud Academy Champions.
