Study Progress 2026
Tracker for Study Plan 2026. Check off completed items, log dates, and add notes.
Last updated: 2026-05-21 — End of Q1 / mid-Q2 review.
Stream 1: AWS & Cloud Architecture
Q1 (Jan – Mar)
- Begin AWS Solutions Architect Professional exam prep
- Review core AWS services (EC2, S3, VPC, RDS, Lambda)
- Complete 2–3 practice exams
- Milestone: Complete foundational review
Notes: Not started as of May 2026. Q1 milestone missed — needs to begin in Q2.
Q2 (Apr – Jun)
- Deep dive: security, compliance, cost optimization
- Review reference architectures
- Complete 3–4 full practice exams
- Milestone: AWS Solutions Architect Professional Certification
Completed: Notes: Q2 cert target at risk given Q1 prep not done. Consider pushing target to Q3.
Stream 2: Generative AI & LLMs
Q1 (Jan – Mar)
- Begin “Build a LLM from Scratch”
- AWS AI Practitioner exam prep
- Set up Python environment for ML/AI work
- Milestone: AWS AI Practitioner Certification
Completed: Notes: Not started as of May 2026. Q1 milestone missed.
Q2 (Apr – Jun)
- Continue “Build a LLM from Scratch”
- AWS Generative AI Developer exam prep
- Start GenAI project (RAG app or fine-tuned model)
- Milestone: AWS Generative AI Developer Certification
Completed: Notes: Not yet started. Q2 cert target at risk.
Q3 (Jul – Sep)
- Complete “Build a LLM from Scratch”
- Refine and document GenAI project
- Explore prompt engineering, evaluation metrics, model optimization
- Milestone: Complete LLM project with documentation
Completed: Notes:
Stream 3: Backend Development
Sub-Stream 3A: Python
- Read selected advanced chapters of Fluent Python
- Implement 1–2 advanced patterns per month (ongoing)
- Apply learnings to GenAI and production projects
Notes:
Sub-Stream 3B: Software Architecture
Q3–Q4 (Jul – Dec)
- Read “Building Microservices” by Sam Newman
- System Design Interview preparation
- Read “The Pragmatic Programmer”
- Milestone: Apply 3 architecture patterns to projects
Notes:
Stream 4: Philosophy & Humanities
Book Club
| Month | Book | Theory/Essay | Done | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Non-Things – Byung-Chul Han | The Question Concerning Technology – Heidegger | [x] | Completed |
| February | The Circle – Dave Eggers | The Narcissistic Personality of Our Time – Lasch | [ ] | Skipped |
| March | You and Your Profile – Moeller & D’Ambrosio | A Cyborg Manifesto – Haraway | [ ] | Skipped |
| April | The Right to Oblivion – Pressly | The Girl Who Was Plugged In – Tiptree Jr. | [ ] | Skipped |
| May | Alone Together – Sherry Turkle | — | [ ] | Current — behind schedule |
| June | The Ethics of Authenticity – Charles Taylor | Berry essays | [ ] | |
| July | Pattern Recognition – William Gibson | Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction – Benjamin | [ ] | |
| August | Technics & Civilization – Lewis Mumford | — | [ ] | |
| September | What is Called Thinking? – Heidegger | — | [ ] | |
| October | Technopoly – Postman & Filterworld – Chayka | — | [ ] | |
| November | Stop All the Clocks – Kumin | Carr & Crawford essays | [ ] | |
| December | The Life of the Mind (Part 1) – Hannah Arendt | — | [ ] |
Stream 5: Privacy Engineering & Cybersecurity
Q1 (Jan – Mar)
- Complete Introduction to Python for Cybersecurity
- Google Cybersecurity Cert – Courses 1–3 (Foundations, Security Risks, Networks)
- Study GDPR fundamentals and privacy principles
- Milestone: Python for Cybersecurity done, Google Cert 40% complete
Completed: Notes: Not started as of May 2026. Q1 milestone missed.
Q2 (Apr – Jun)
- Google Cybersecurity Cert – Courses 4–8
- Begin E2EE fundamentals
- Explore AWS security and compliance services
- Milestone: Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate
Completed: Notes:
Q3 (Jul – Sep)
- Study Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs)
- Study Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs)
- Study Digital Identity systems
- Build privacy engineering project
- Study HIPAA compliance
- Milestone: 1 privacy engineering project completed
Completed: Notes:
Q4 (Oct – Dec)
- Study tokenization, differential privacy, secure multi-party computation
- Study privacy in AI/ML (federated learning)
- Create personal privacy regulations reference guide (GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA)
- Milestone: Privacy engineering portfolio piece completed
Notes:
Practical Projects: Security & Networking
| # | Project | Done | Completed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Network Traffic Analyzer (Wireshark) | [ ] | ||
| 2 | Virtual Network Lab | [ ] | ||
| 3 | Secure Web Server (NGINX) | [ ] | ||
| 4 | Network Scanner in Python | [ ] | ||
| 5 | Secure Authentication System | [ ] | ||
| 6 | Cryptography CLI Tool | [ ] | ||
| 7 | Home Firewall (pfSense/iptables) | [ ] | ||
| 8 | Web App Vulnerability Scanner | [ ] | ||
| 9 | SSH Honeypot | [ ] | ||
| 10 | Network Monitoring System (Basic SIEM) | [ ] |
Certifications
| Certification | Target | Done | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS AI Practitioner | Q1 | [ ] | |
| AWS Solutions Architect Professional | Q2 | [ ] | |
| AWS Generative AI Developer | Q2 | [ ] | |
| Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate | Q2 | [ ] |
Courses
| Course | Target | Done | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Python for Cybersecurity | Q1 | [ ] |
Books
| Book | Stream | Done | Completed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluent Python (selective) | Backend | [ ] | ||
| Build a LLM from Scratch | GenAI | [ ] | ||
| Building Microservices | Architecture | [ ] | ||
| The Pragmatic Programmer | Architecture | [ ] | ||
| Applied Cryptography (selective) | Security | [ ] | ||
| The Privacy Engineer’s Manifesto | Security | [ ] | ||
| Zero Trust Networks | Security | [ ] | ||
| Philosophy Book Club (12 books) | Philosophy | — |