Learning Tools I Use to Stay Ahead of the Game

Full disclosure: I’m not sponsored by anything I mention here today. But hey, if anyone wants to throw some cheese my way, and it's the right opportunity, I won't say no.

Learning new material can be tough, especially if you're in college juggling classes, a job, or maybe a significant other—or even chasing toddlers while making a career switch. Finding the time and the right resources to level up your skills can be daunting (and expensive). So, here are four great learning tools (two of them free!) to help you out.

Let's start with the paid stuff.

Udemy Learning
I use Udemy to teach myself cybersecurity and brush up on math, mainly because it gives me hands-on exercises while learning. For $35 a month, I get full courses and practice exams—perfect for my CompTIA S+ study plan. The best part? You’re doing activities while you learn, which makes the info stick.

LinkedIn Learning
This one requires LinkedIn Premium, but the trade-off is you also get access to some cool networking tools. I’ve used it for certification prep—like SQL, where I built a database for my workout logs. Sure, the course isn't finished, but now I can track my bench press gains with SQL queries. Efficiency at its finest!

Now for the free stuff.

YouTube
It’s the unofficial university of the internet. I use it mainly for math and basic computer science topics. If you know what you're looking for (like "Fibonacci sequences" or "binary search trees"), just type it in and you’ll find plenty of tutorials. Plus, there’s always some quirky professor willing to explain things with a chalkboard.

ChatGPT
I use ChatGPT to spot errors in my code and explain basic concepts when I’m stuck. Currently, I’m developing a C++ game, and I even use ChatGPT to help me generate some of the game’s art. You could say that I’m somewhat of a prompt engineer myself.

Anyway, those are some of my go-to tools!

Keep moving forward, TekStroverts!