Looking ahead to 2024…

I think I'm going to take an approach where I aim to do a project every month of 2024. It can be a certification, a talk, or an event. I think this approach gives me something that I can commit to doing and provide a flexible enough deadline to be able to get it done even with the rest of life happening around me. I have "projects" scheduled for every month in the first half of the year. I think when I get to June I'll stop, take a breath, and then plan out the remainder of 2024.

As far as BJSS work goes for 2024, I'm expecting to be on the same project throughout 2024. This will be good because I won't have the stress of having to change clients or do any ramping up for newer projects. This should also free up some time so I can work on other things too.

I also need to make an effort to post on this blog more about tech topics. Got any ideas?

2024

• January 2024
  • Take and pass the AZ-104 exam
  • Take and pass the GitHub Foundations exam
• February 2024
  • CodeLaunch 2024
• March 2024
  • Give talk on gRPC + .NET to the BJSS Houston Tech Forum
• April 2024
  • Give talk on gRPC + .NET to the Houston .NET User Group
  • Referee at the 2024 USA Powerlifting Collegiate National Championships
  • Take Cat II referee exam/practical
• May 2024
  • Give talk on gRPC + .NET to the North Houston .NET User Group
• June 2024
  • Run the USA Powerlifting Summer Power Fest with Mike Hafenbrack
• December 2024
  • Participate in the Advent of Code 2024 (gotta get more BJSS Houston folks involved)

Certifications (New)

Here are the certification exams which I am prepping for right now. I was planning to have the AZ-104 taken and passed in 2023, but for reasons, that didn't happen. I passed the equivalent exam a few years ago while taking exams for the Azure Solutions Architect, so this is a "completitionist" task. I'll get it though. More labs, more practice exam questions, more reading...

• Azure Administrator Associate (January 2024)
• GitHub Foundations (January 2024)

Here is a list of certifications I could take this year. I don't anticipate getting the bulk of them, but I need a goal for beyond June 2024.

• GitHub Advanced Security
• GitHub Administration
• GitHub Actions
• AWS Developer Associate
• AWS Solutions Architect Associate
• AWS Data Engineer Associate
• AWS SysOps Administrator Associate

Certifications (Renewals)

Here's a list of all the certifications I need to renew this year.

• Renew Azure Data Engineer Associate (< 1/20/2024) - Completed 1/14/2024
• Renew Azure Security Engineer Associate (< 2/23/3024) - Completed 1/15/2024
• Renew Azure Solutions Architect Expert (< 3/3/2024) - Completed 1/16/2024
• Renew Azure Developer Associate (< 4/15/2024) - Completed 1/17/2024
• Renew Azure Cosmos DB Developer Specialty (< 4/30/2024) - Completed 1/18/2024
• Renew DevOps Engineer Expert (< 6/15/2024) - Completed 1/19/2024
• Renew Information Protection and Compliance Administrator Associate (< 9/28/2024)
• Renew Identity and Access Administrator Associate (< 10/9/2024)
• Renew Security Operations Analyst Associate (< 10/28/2024)
• Cybersecurity Architect Expert (< 11/21/2024)

...and that's what I've got planned for 2024. I'll have to revisit this post in December 2024. I hope I get a bunch done.