Certification & ITBA

2024 was a year where several important things happened almost at the same time. A Microsoft certification, a hackathon, my first experience on a team with a more professional dynamic and my entry into the ITBA program. It was also the year I started working on the second version of my portfolio. That version eventually got left behind, but it was an important part of the process.

In April I signed up for a Código Facilito bootcamp focused on the AI-102. It was a new certification and the program had 500 spots for all of Latin America. When I received my confirmation I still didn't know everything it was going to involve. It was weeks of classes, practice and a lot of new content about Azure and artificial intelligence.

After finishing the bootcamp there was the option to take the Microsoft exam with a free voucher. Passing it was also a requirement to participate in the Innovation Challenge Hackathon. The problem was time. The deadline to take the exam was May 25 and I ended up scheduling it for the 24th.

I had just over a month to prepare for an exam that normally requires considerably more time. I studied Azure services I hadn't used in depth before, practiced with scenarios similar to the exam and even so, when the day came, there were questions that made me doubt. After two hours in front of the screen the result appeared: passed.

Seeing the certification on my Microsoft profile after all that process was one of those moments that stays with you.

The Innovation Challenge was completely different from anything I had done before. For the first time I was working in a context with defined timelines, a team and the need to make quick decisions. It wasn't just about coding something and leaving it running: you had to decide what to do, how to do it and arrive with something finished.

We didn't win the hackathon, but the experience was valuable. Being there alongside teams from different parts of the world and having gotten there through the process I'd just gone through was already something I wouldn't have expected a few months earlier.

That same year I was also selected for the ITBA Full Stack certification. There were 60 spots nationwide, so the selection process was already an experience in itself.

Then came a fairly intense period: eight sprints working with Scrum, architecture decisions, classes, activities and a technical interview at the end of the program. DuckBank was the project we closed the program with. It wasn't perfect, but it was a project where I could apply a lot of new things and see what it's like to build something with a team, real timelines and real decisions.

I learned new concepts, but I also learned to work differently.

I finished 2024 with more than 30 badges, a Microsoft certification, a hackathon experience and an ITBA program that demanded considerably more than I expected. It was a year with a lot of movement and several firsts.