## My Intention To Level Up My PhD in biomedical ultrasound wasn't a casual stroll through academia. It was a rigorous initiation into the scientific method, where **thorough familiarity with your tools and techniques was paramount**. Every microscope sequence, every oscilloscope trace, held the potential to unveil the mysteries to improved methods of non-invasive drug delivery, like hidden messages waiting to be decoded. This lesson resonated beyond the lab walls. As I dove into the startup world, I realized the cloud–that vast, nebulous entity–was my new lab. And AWS, with its sprawling toolbox of services and cryptic command lines, would be my playground for innovation. Armed with the foundational Cloud Practitioner cert, I set my sights on the coveted SAA-C02 Solutions Architect badge. Practice exams became my flashcards, each dissected question revealing the hidden logic of VPCs, IAM roles, and S3 buckets. But life waits for no one. Nearing a cross-country move at the tail-end of the Covid catastrophe, building my new company while shuttering my first, my focus lapsed and I missed my exam. I forgot that I had even scheduled it, didn't even notice for weeks, and perhaps worse, didn't care to reschedule it while the information was fresh. Procrastination became my nemesis, its tendrils wrapping around my motivation like a rogue Python script. I started studying again, but often while multi-tasking, half-listening to ACloudGuru lectures while cleaning or coding, retaining next to nothing. Another year went by and the SAA-C03 AWS Solution Architect Exam was released. The exam I had studied for on-and-off for 2 years no longer existed. I started listening to the new exam prep materials from ACloudGuru again, this time at the gym, spacing out between sets and not internalizing much. Fortunately, along the way, 2 things gave me renewed confidence that this would be the year I complete this aging goal. 1. **The Habit Reformation:** Gone were the days of the stoner student. Time management became my mantra, each meticulously blocked calendar square a testament to my newfound discipline. 2. **The Hero's Journey:** A leadership training program armed me with the tools to slay my inner saboteurs, to connect with my life purpose and to live with intention. Fast forward to January 2024, on a ski slope in Colorado, my coach put it plainly - "Get the certificate. Close this chapter with a win.". "I will.", I said, the echo of my commitment absorbed by snow-swept peaks reverberates in my memory. No more excuses. No more half-measures. This time, I'm laying bare my journey to the world, my notes a public proclamation of my intent. The SAA-C03 badge on my LinkedIn profile will be a trophy hard-won, a testament to the perseverance of a scientist turned software entrepreneur. I post new notes on my [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/miles-aron) so please follow me there for updates. ### Here Are My Notes - [[AWS Solution Architect Exam (SAA-C03)]]