The latest articles on DEV Community by Prince Chaudhary (@pyramid_tech). https://dev.to/pyramid_tech https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3699740%2Ffabb49ac-d209-4993-8082-28a4dee4c294.jpg https://dev.to/pyramid_tech en Prince Chaudhary Thu, 08 Jan 2026 06:58:09 +0000 https://dev.to/pyramid_tech/from-zero-to-aws-certified-in-30-days-saa-c03-2ggl https://dev.to/pyramid_tech/from-zero-to-aws-certified-in-30-days-saa-c03-2ggl <p>Hi! I am a 4th-year CSIT student from Nepal.I set a goal to pass the AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) exam. I had zero professional cloud experience and a limited budget.</p> <p>30 days later, I passed on my first attempt.<br> Here is the roadmap of how I went from “What is EC2?” to Certified Solutions Architect.</p> <h2> The Commitment: 6 Hours a Day </h2> <p>I treated this like a full-time job.</p> <p>30 days may sound short, but:<br> 30 × 6 hours = 180 hours of study</p> <p>Consistency was my secret weapon.</p> <h2> Step 1: The Foundation (FreeCodeCamp) </h2> <p>I started with the massive FreeCodeCamp AWS course on YouTube.</p> <p><strong>My tip:</strong><br> Don’t watch passively. Pause the video, open your AWS Free Tier console, and click the buttons yourself.<br> Visualizing the console makes concepts stick.</p> <h2> <strong>Step 2: Filling the Gaps (Tutorials Dojo)</strong> </h2> <p>Video courses are great, but they miss important details.</p> <p>I used Tutorials Dojo Cheatsheets to understand comparison scenarios like:</p> <p>S3 Standard vs Intelligent-Tiering</p> <p>Cost-effective vs high-availability solutions</p> <p>This helped me think the AWS way.</p> <h2> Step 3: The Marathon (1,019 Questions) </h2> <p>This was the game-changer.</p> <p>I used ExamPrepper and forced myself to solve 1,019 practice questions.</p> <p>I didn’t just memorize answers.<br> If I got a question wrong, I read the explanation to understand why.</p> <p>This trained my brain to instantly spot keywords like:</p> <p>“Cost-effective”</p> <p>“Low latency”</p> <p>Exam Day Thoughts</p> <p>The exam is mentally draining.</p> <p>By question 45, my brain was tired. But because I had practiced full 60-question mock sets at home, I had the stamina to finish strong.</p> <h2> <strong>What’s Next?</strong> </h2> <p>Now that I’m certified, I’m building projects to apply my knowledge.</p> <h2> <strong>Currently working on:</strong> </h2> <p>Hosting static websites using S3</p> <p>Distributing content with CloudFront</p> <p>Securing access using OAC</p> <h2> <strong>Final Note</strong> </h2> <p>If you’re a student thinking about this certification —<br> you can do it.</p> <p>Just put in the hours. 💪</p> awscertification aws cloud solutionsarchitect