Let me tell you a story. A couple of nights ago, a dude tried to push through the night studying again. He remembered faintly that it was about 3 o’clock in the morning. He had finally done so; he stood up, walking down the stairs, and boom, everything went black. He fell and fainted on the stairs.

Yup, that’s me, you probably wonder how I got here

Well, if you haven’t known yet. Here’s a little backstory:

I was 18 when I migrated with my mom to the United States. It's just my mom and me living with my grandparents, who, for the first time in almost two decades of my life, I have the luck to meet. They have sponsored us to come here. That’s more than ten years of paperwork between me and the part of the family I have in the US.

So things started off really hard; it’s hard to get to know such a new place, meet family members I have never talked to, speak English as my main language, and order a double cheeseburger for the first time. I started working at the nail salon with my mom to help put some bread on the table. For the first time in my life, I know what working is. Back when I was in Vietnam, I just went to school and went back home. There were little parties here and there, but I never worked a day in my life.

​However, I’m still grateful for having a job, and I am so thankful for the people who helped me from the very first days of my nail career. At that time I was an 18 years old with nothing to my name and nails is the career that helped me put about three thousands dollars in my savings account (that’s all gone now because my car broke down, the water pipe burst and I don’t actually know how American health insurance works. But that is not the story for today. Let’s move on)

To be brutally honest and perhaps arrogant, I like to think of myself as a complex and sophisticated person. Back in Vietnam, I was famous to my friends; I was a vicious debater, a popular writer and poet in my social circle. Even though the nail salon gives me the starting boost of money, all the things that ever define me and my ego turn into hours on end cutting overgrown nails and filing down dried heels. I felt like I was disappearing. I know this may come across poorly. I firmly believe the people in all salons work with dignity and skill, and this industry helped me survive my first year in the US. But I was struggling with losing the parts of myself I'd always known. I needed a way out. ​

The stuff that dreams are made of

So at this point, all I need is a change in career. What should I pick? I don’t have money, so I want to stay as far away from those colleges as possible. I don’t want to just do labour, that’s just another nail-salon-job in my eyes. I want something that I can study my whole life (with passion!), I want something that can make a difference, I want a community that is open and welcoming for new starters. And on my search for the holy grail, I ran into this YouTube video (Thank you so much, the god of YouTube algorithm!).

And this just opened my eyes so much to the world of IT. From that video, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to work in IT. I can get my certifications, which are way cheaper than a bachelor's degree, and I can study at my own pace, not having to leave the nail technician job, so I can still make money in the meantime.

​But the thing is, I was a complete no-tech. I don't even know what RAM is. I thought the PC was just the monitor, and the case was for Wi-Fi or something. So I started out with a CompTIA certification that I don’t think many people have heard of: ITF+ (IT Fundamentals). This was the old version of the new Tech+ certification.

​The start was extremely humble. I read cover to cover the book “IT Fundamental Study Guide” by Quentin Docter, and guess what, I read it again and started taking notes! To this day, I don’t even fully understand my method of studying for ITF+. That took a good 6 months out of my life. I was working full-time and maybe had some light depression, but still, 6 months is, well, obviously, too much time for this certification. After that, I was ready to take on other certifications because ITF+ turned me from a no-tech to a low-tech.

​Most importantly, this certification turns IT into my dream. I know that doing it by myself is possible, that I don’t need to pay to access knowledge, and that there is no gatekeeping in this community. There are so many good and free resources, so many people willing to help, to answer my questions. I got the certification for free (except the exam fee), and suddenly, there’s hope for the future.

After all, tomorrow is another day

I am ready for the A+ certification, and oh boy, this was such a journey. In short, I got the whole certification after 2 months (there was a lot of time between A+ and ITF+ because I got sidetracked and started studying Python). I spent 1 month on each core, and I took them in order. The first core, I chicken out and went to do it the cheap way. I gave Professor Messer YouTube video transcripts to AI and told it to make multiple-choice practice tests for each video.

​By the way, shout out to the absolute GOAT Professor Messer. This was the first time I watched his video, and I cannot overpraise him enough about the quality, the dedication, and all of the funny, quirky jokes in his video. On top of that, it’s all free (I’m tearing up a bit just by writing this sentence).

​But as it turns out, that was very dumb of me. My reasons for not buying online practice tests were: they are pricey (turns out they are not), and I want to write on paper to help me remember better (turns out I can turn paid tests to paper too, wowww). So there I went, doing 63 practice tests in a month, 3 tests per day include checking the answer, taking notes, and watching the Prof video. Somehow, I pushed through all of that while working full-time (and just passed out once).

I believe a weakness is just an overused strength; for me, this is about doing everything so systematically. If I start Core 1 with documents of all the tests I have done, their scores, and I print all of those tests out, I cannot stop working in that system until I finish Core 1 completely.

So for Core 2, I fixed my plan at the very start, and somehow I completely got rid of that plan ten days in. I change everything, and I learn in a chaotic way. I bought online practice tests (It was DION, and I highly recommend them), copied all the wrong answers into a document, and printed them so I can write notes on them. I was freaking out and having some of the worst mental breakdowns in history (like in real history). Nothing was going according to plan; there wasn’t even a plan to start with. I do the tests before I even study for them, then I heavily note the questions I got wrong. I started digging up answers from a lot of sources, not just Professor Messer anymore.

The exam day became closer and closer, I swear that was one of the most panicked moments in my life. I don’t believe in myself, I feel like I don’t study enough. But one month has already passed, and I don’t want to scare myself out of taking the exam forever. So I got to the exam room, formally dressed from head to toe because if I passed, it’s gonna be the best day of my life. Turns out, it was. I did even better than Core 1 (I scored 798/900, which is a lot for me to that point). So you can imagine, I was way more than happy!

But we all know, certifications are not the end of the road, but quite the opposite. I need to start looking for a job now. I have come a really long way, with all of the ups and downs, with happiness and fear. I’m glad I made it to the other side. I will keep trying for the things I want; I will not stop after this. You will soon hear from me about Sec+ and Net+. So, until then, see you on the other side! ​

Goodbye notes

As part of the IT community, if you have any questions, I am more than glad to help. You can ask me anything; I am willing to share all the practice tests I made in Core 1 or the notes I have for both Cores. Don’t ask me about ITF+, though; they stopped that test. You can find all of my contacts on this website.

I use movie quotes for my headline. If you want, you can check them out: 1. Yup, that’s me, you probably wonder how I got here - This is just a phrase they use in movies.
2. The stuff that dreams are made of - The Maltese Falcon.
3. After all, tomorrow is another day - Gone With The Wind.