I remember when I was a teenager I was fascinated by the notion of being a Microsoft Certified developer. I was very excited about software development and I have taught myself Visual Basic. My development roots started with BASIC on an MSX computer.
I was and still am very curious about technology and computers specifically provided me with an amazing world to explore. Hardware and Sofware both were very intriguing, except software had the advantage of being more explorable. Although I had disassembled my Pentium computer several times (despite my parent's resistance to what they called vandalism), but that was costly and the parts that I got out was not modifiable.
That why my curiosity was channeled towards software. From system files to programming.
My development experience as a high-school teenager was definitely above average and impressed those who became aware of it (I really kept much to myself as a child). To my parents, whether I'm developing, browsing, listening to music, playing games, or studying, having me on the computer meant: Mazen is spending too much time playing on the computer. That was a very big deal about my life but I just want to talk now about finally obtaining the Microsoft Certified Solution Developer certification that I have dreamt about since high school.
I had no idea what it would take; but I was confident and passionate. I looked up some certifications issued by Microsoft and learned about MCAD (Microsoft Certified Application Developer, which I think is retired now) and the even fancier one MCSD. I wanted to take some courses to aid in my certification but in the town that I have lived there wasn't enough people interested in taking such advanced courses so such a course wouldn't run. We barely had internet at home.
At that time I didn't know that the MCSD certification is actually a composite of more than one other certification. As is the case in most including the one that I recently got, the Web Applications MCSD certification, it is 3. I had no idea that that was the case as a high-schooler, but I knew I just wanted to get that fancy certificate. I had no idea what I was aiming for but still it was something I looked up towards as a dream.
Anyways, I got my first Microsoft Certifications, two MCTSs, after graduating college. The years just passed by and I was distracted by other personal projects, activities and internships during college that it didn't occur to me to try getting certified again until graduation.
Three years after graduating, just a couple of days ago, I got another MCTS (Developing Microsoft Azure and Web Services) and finally became an MCSD.
It's been 10 years since I first learnt about the MCSD certification. It's kind of surreal thinking that such a thing would take me a decade to accomplish. A childhood dream finally realized.