Trust the Trail Guide

Here in lovely Utah, where TestOut Continuing Education is located, we have an abundance of natural splendor. Utah is of course world famous for the high desert landscapes and sculpted sandstone canyons showcased in our five national parks. We also have spectacular mountain ranges, however, picturesque rivers and lakes, and even the largest living organism on the planet, a clonal colony aspen named Pando.

If you like outdoor recreation, then you'd probably enjoy a visit to Utah so much that you might seriously consider moving here. We've got everything except surfing and deep sea fishing, although the Great Salt Lake does smell like the ocean when the prevailing wind is right. Whatever you like to do, the odds are excellent that there's a place in Utah where you can go do it, often without encountering another living soul.

I mention all of this because I'm driving down to do some hiking in the San Rafael Swell in central Utah this weekend. The Swell is a panoramic slickrock and sandstone wonderland so spectacular it would be a national park in any other state. Here in Utah, it's not even a protected wilderness area, but I digress. Whenever I go exploring in the Swell, I always take a detailed trail guide to help me a) not get lost, and b) find the right path to whatever I'm down there to visit.

Sure, I could drive to any canyon in the area, start hiking, and see where I end up. It's almost always more rewarding, however, to know where you're going and what you'll find when you get there. IT is similar in that you could just sit down at a computer, start playing around, and gradually figure things out. And while there are certainly people who enjoy that kind of learning, I tend to want to rely on the wisdom of someone who's been there before.

That's what's so great about TestOut Continuing Education. The IT experts who develop our courses have been there before. They know how to get from being a newbie to becoming a certified professional. More than that, they know what to do along the way so that the skills you are learning become ingrained. And that has real value when it's time to get a job.

You could just start exploring and see what you find. We think that if you use our IT trail guides, then you'll have a richer, more successful, and ultimately more applicable experience.

About the Author — Calvin Harper is a past associate editor for GoCertify and a veteran of the publishing industry. Calvin no longer writes the Friday blog post here at the IT Insights Blog, but we're willing to let him take the credit.