AWS Community Builders Holiday Post 2022
Tags: cbchristmas2022, aws, awscommunity
Published: 2022-12-20 09:46:50

## AWS Community Builder Year 1 - Fly to the moon and back!

I would like to say thank you and express my gratitude to the AWS Community for the motivation to stretch my goals, speak, build, write, sing, Zoom, build community and grow in my AWS cloud journey this year as an AWS Community Builder 🚀: 

Jason Dunn, Shafraz Rahim, Lily Kerns, Taylor Jacobsen, Belinda McKeon, Derek Bingham, Kris Howard, Rohini Gaonkar, Laura Vieloma, Ridhima Kapoor, Peter Hanssens, Ali Haydar, Stephen Sennett, Chelle Grey, Walter Lee, Kaushik Mohanraj, Jenn Bergstrom, Johannes Koch, Darya Petrashka, Donna Edwards, Navi Kaur and Jones Zechariah Noel.

## What surprises you most about the community builders program?

The community builder's program is a diverse, inclusive and a 24/7 global community that never sleeps. If you have a question, people in the AWS Community are willing to help and provide guidance to empower you to learn.

My afternoon will be someone's end of day and an AWS Community Manager may surprise me with an educational webinar with a guest speaker from AWS or invite us to office hours to hear about what's next and what to look forward to in data analytics.

With coffee in hand, some mornings may be brighter such as being invited to a webinar to hear from fellow AWS Community Builder Stephen Sennett speak about AWS re:invent 2022.

## What’s your background and your experience with AWS?

As a data scientist with a background in data analytics and data science consulting my journey into AWS commenced when I consulted for an airline and bank in a startup for an AWS Partner.

In government, I designed a POC using AWS for our cloud journey into building data pipelines and provided training to my team in Amazon Redshift, Amazon QuickSight, Amazon Glue Databrew and AWS Glue. I have supported my team on technical guidance for migration and implementations for storage.

I have a passion for Women in Tech and my cloud journey formally commenced with AWS She Builds CloudUp program where I completed the AWS certifications in AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate.

## What’s the biggest benefit you see from the program?

The biggest benefit from the program is participating (Say "Yes"), here are a few:

* I received free AWS Credits to build cloud projects and tell stories

* I had the opportunity to speak at two AWS User Groups

* I had the opportunity to support AWS Summit ANZ, AWS Innovate Modern Applications and AWS Community Summit APAC 

* I had the opportunity to Zoom with AWS Community Builders such as Cloud Leader Walter Lee and meet other AWS CBs and Heroes

* I had the opportunity to write and contribute to the AWS Community Builder's blog - because I love to teach and write!

I was excited to see AWS Community Builders meet together for the first time at the recent AWS re:invent 2022 and especially completing a 'global' hike organized by Johannes Koch in Arizona with Jenn Bergstrom, Ganesh, Traian Ciobanu, Pubudu Jayawardana, niklasw and Richard Fan. Team building and mission accomplished for a successful community hike 😁

I hope to meet these cool builders one day and others who have inspired me to learn and continue to grow in the AWS Community.

If you missed out on attending AWS re:invent 2022, you can watch the keynotes, leadership sessions, join break out sessions here on [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/@AWSEventsChannel).

![reinvent](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/212eoqxhtdhjht80baqn.jpg)

## What’s the next swag item that you would like to get?

I don't expect anything in return but as a second year AWS Community Builder I hope to pass my next AWS Certification.

My aspirational goal of 12 AWS certifications and a golden jacket 😁 is equivalent to me climbing Mount Everest.

## What are you eating for dinner today? Share the recipe!

It's summer in Sydney and seafood is fresh in the southern hemisphere. Keeping it simple but fresh let's cook Seared Scallop Pasta with a burst of cherry tomatoes.

Recipe is provided by New York Times Cooking at this [link](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019981-seared-scallop-pasta-with-burst-tomatoes-and-herbs) - eat to your heart's content:


![pasta](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/0iyx9wic829w7nibvnje.jpg)

## Is there anything else you would like to say about the community builders program in 2022?

The next intake for the AWS Community Builder's program will open in early January 2023. You may include your email address at this [link](https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/community-builders/) to be notified when it opens to receive applications.

If you would like to find out more about the AWS Community Builder's program you can:

* Read more about the program and benefits [here](https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/community-builders/)


![cb](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/3isow7pijipuxobshg73.jpg)

* Read this blog by AWS Community Builder Stephen Sennett [here](https://ssennett.net/posts/aws-cb/)

* View the AWS Community Builder's video here {% embed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dms7RlAPNDs&t=3s %}

* Join an AWS User Group to be connected to the AWS Community in your city. You can locate one [here](https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/usergroups/)

* You can reach out and speak to an AWS Community Builder to find out more about the AWS Community Builder's program in your city, country or topic [here](https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/community-builders/community-builders-directory/)


![directory](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/kxonpo3z9fmnwilwc1t9.jpg)

* Follow AWS Developers on [Twitter] (https://twitter.com/awsdevelopers)


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/f7uoxbc7g14bt86asdqz.jpg)

* Keep up to date with Build On AWS available on [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/c/BuildOnAWS)

![Build on](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xbrhy5hu7efxb5cky4ep.jpg)

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy holiday season 🎄


![small](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/r7xsw30dhngyu4mqozyc.jpg)