Views are my own.

In the second half of 2023, I ran a small experiment: a 4-week study group that took about 20 people across APAC from "I have a question on the forums" to "I'm ready for the MongoDB Developer certification exam."

The pilot never became a full program. Only one person ended up taking the exam. But it's still one of the community projects I learned the most from, so I want to write down what happened.

The idea

On the MongoDB Community Forums, the University section is full of people working through courses and getting stuck on real questions. Some were already strong. Others were clearly hungry to learn.…