Almost a decade after I started my cybersecurity career, I finally sat for a professional cybersecurity certificate exam. Personal opinions on whether or not IT professionals must have certificates or not aside, this is my experience and reflection on the studying and exam process.

A few notes that provide context to my experience. First, I hadn’t taken a standardized test since I took the SATs in high school, which was well over a decade ago. Second, I was heavily pregnant when I took the exam. I’m talking, I was at risk of going into labor before my exam, heavily pregnant. Third, I had attempted to study for another professional cybersecurity certificate before but could never gain traction, so I was going into this experience very pessimistic about my performance and expectations.

At the end of 2025, I had leftover money in my team budget, so I decided to throw a Hail Mary and study for a professional cybersecurity certificate. I had a hard deadline for scheduling my exam (see note above about being pregnant), so I wasn’t giving myself a lot of time to study and pass the exam. After some deep Internet research and consulting with a few peers, I landed on ISC2’s Certificate in Governance…