@littlebigfab, 37, from Nice, France. I first used Linux back in the late 90'. My cousin was already studying IT at the time, so he helped me set up my first Mandrake Linux distribution. When I finally got access to the internet, I stopped bothering him and I joined the open source community online instead. I immediately loved how helpful it was, and the idea of people sharing their knowledge and helping each other. From there, pursuing IT studies and a career in IT seemed pretty obvious.
Since then, I have been professionally working with Linux for 15+ years, mostly as a Systems Engineer. I have become a freelance consultant, providing Linux and Cloud expertise to my clients in the region of Nice.
A couple of years ago, I decided to go with Red Hat Training and Certifications, mostly to assess my skills with Linux and enrich my CV. I took a couple of classroom training sessions to learn OpenStack and Ansible, passing the corresponding certification exams in order to capitalize on the training and demonstrate my new skills.
Soon I became a Red Hat Certified Architect, the most prestigious and demanding Red Hat certification. That, in turn, unlocked the 50% discount for the Red Hat Learning Subscription, which I obviously took. Since then I've extensively been using it to increase my RHCA level to my current level of 8.
I love the way the Red Hat Learning Community enables people to help each other! Not only can I give back what I have learned to the community and help new Linux users take their first steps into the open-source world, but I can also benefit myself from the great pieces of advice of even more senior users, including Red Hat employees themselves. It's actually funny how every time I first want to help someone, I actually end up learning something new for myself too!