The order I earned 13 AWS and Linux Foundation badges between June and August 2026, what each one covers, and lessons for beginners."
tags: aws, beginners, cloud, learning

Two months ago I had no cloud credentials at all. Today my profile shows 13 digital badges earned between June 19 and August 18, 2026. None of them is a certification, and I don't pretend they are. But together they gave me structure, vocabulary, and hands-on confidence.

In this post I'll share the badges, the order I earned them in, and the lessons I'd pass on to anyone starting from zero.

My 13 badges at a glance

Phase 1: Building the foundation (June to July)

I began with Introduction to Cloud 101 from AWS Educate. Before touching any service, I needed to understand what "the cloud" actually means: on-demand resources, pay-as-you-go pricing, and the global infrastructure.

Then I worked through the Getting Started series one service area at a time, starting with Compute and Storage. One topic per course kept things manageable. Instead of trying to learn "AWS" all at once, I learned what EC2 does, then what S3 does, then how they connect.

Phase 2: Going deeper into the core services (July to August)

The next badges covered Networking, Databases, Cloud Ops, and Serverless. I earned the last three within three days, because the earlier courses had already built the vocabulary: VPCs, subnets, managed databases, monitoring, and Lambda stopped sounding like jargon.

The most useful habit of this phase was trying the idea myself in the AWS Free Tier after each course. Reading about a security group and creating one are two very different experiences.

Phase 3: Learning by doing with Cloud Quest

On August 14 I earned the AWS Cloud Quest: Cloud Practitioner badge. Cloud Quest is a game-style, role-based experience where you build solutions in a virtual city. It was the point where theory turned into practice, because I had to apply ideas instead of just recognizing them in a quiz.

Phase 4: The knowledge badges sprint

On August 17 I earned three AWS Knowledge badges: Cloud Essentials, Networking Core, and AWS End User Computing. I also finished LFD103: A Beginner's Guide to Linux Kernel Development from the Linux Foundation that day.

That was a concentrated study day, not a typical one. The takeaway isn't "do four things in one day." It's that once the foundations are in place, later topics go much faster.

Phase 5: Thinking like an architect

The last badge, Well-Architected Proficient (August 18), introduced me to the AWS Well-Architected Framework. It shifted my mindset from "how do I use this service?" to "is this design secure, reliable, efficient, and cost-aware?" I'd recommend taking it after you've seen the core services, not before.

What these badges are, and what they aren't

• They are proof that I completed structured training and met the requirements of each course
• They are shareable and verifiable, so anyone can check them
• They are not AWS certifications, and they don't replace exams like Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02)

I treat them as milestones on the way to certification, not the destination.

Lessons for beginners

1. Pick a clear order. Cloud basics, then individual services, then hands-on practice, then architecture thinking
2. One topic at a time. Small, focused courses are easier to finish and remember
3. Practice in your own account. Do something in the Free Tier after every course, and set a billing alarm first
4. Take notes in your own words, then turn them into posts
5. Mix sources. The Linux Foundation course reminded me that cloud skills sit on top of operating system fundamentals
6. Be consistent. Two months of steady effort beat one burst of motivation
7. Share your progress. Writing publicly keeps you accountable and helps you understand topics better

What's next

• Prepare for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam
• Keep building hands-on projects (containers, monitoring, billing alerts) and writing about them
• Keep sharing what I learn here, on AWS Builder Center, and on LinkedIn

Wrapping up

Thirteen badges in two months didn't make me an expert. They gave me a map, and the habit of learning in public that I plan to keep. If you're starting out, pick your first course today.

What was your first AWS badge, and what are you working on next? Let me know in the comments.

Connect with me

• LinkedIn: vishalpatil-devops-aws
• dev.to: @vishal_patil_aws
• GitHub: VishalPatil-DevOps-AWS
• Credly (Cloud Quest badge): view badge

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