Last week, I took a whole week off from work. The past few months had consumed so much of my time and energy in just work alone. I was hoping to spend some time on my hobbies and most importantly, I wanted to study for my Microsoft AI-102 exam that was on last Saturday.
My work is ever so demanding of my time. I foresaw that my one week of leave would inevitably be interrupted with some work and meetings and so I allowed myself to work on Monday and Tuesday. I told myself that Wednesday onwards, I was going to start studying for my exam and allow myself some leisure in between. Alas, a meeting gets scheduled for Wednesday too.
I start cramming for my exam on Wednesday night. Friday comes and I attend to yet some more users' queries. I was primarily following the course materials on Microsoft Learn for AI-102 and there was just so much more to cover. I read up some blog posts and Reddit thread on some people's experience taking the AI-102 exam and started to panic a bit. Those that passed mentioned that they had experience with other Azure exams prior and that the AI-102 exam is one of the hardest they've sat for, even after a month of preparation. I thought to myself, "This was going to be my first time taking an Azure exam at all and it happens to be a rather challenging one?" *Furiously starts speed-reading through the docs*
Ok so you may be wondering, why I skipped past Azure's entry-level exam, the AZ-900, and went straight for the AI-102. Well, I was planning to start with the AZ-900 initially, but sooner than that I had the chance to enroll in a free training and certification program for Azure AI-102 under Code; Without Barriers organized by Girls in Tech. I completed the two-weekend long online instructor-led training in March and was given an exam voucher for AI-102. It was an opportunity not to be passed.
Saturday comes and my exam is set for 10.15 in the morning. I am a ball of nerves as this is my first proctored online exam. I check-in for the exam and complete the necessary check-in procedure. I spend quite a bit of time at the first 20 questions or so, double-checking and cross-referencing my answers with the docs in the Microsoft Learn tab -- yes, this was indeed an open book test, albeit only the Microsoft Learn domain was allowed to be browsed. When there was around 30 minutes of remaining time, I realized I had to speed up. Times up and I am glad that I got to answer all questions except one.
I received a score of 837/1000. The passing score was 700. Whew. I was so glad I made it. This felt like the culmination of my one week of annual leave. I have to say, the questions I attempted only once under practice mode in MeasureUp were enough to really help me familiarize with the type of questions that were asked in the exam. I did pay $80 for a 1-month pass for the AI-102 practice exams in MeasureUp. It was definitely worth it, seeing how little of a time I had to prepare for the exam and the practice questions were spot on. I just wish I had attempted more of the practice questions as well as the hands-on labs in Microsoft Learn.
My one-week holiday came to a wrap after a get-together with my mum and sisters for Mother's Day. This was definitely a 'holiday' like no other - one of busy work, studying and time spent with my hobbies and loved ones.