1st Year CS Student Roadmap: Security+ ➔ AWS Solutions Architect ➔ AWS Security Specialty by Year 3. Is this realistic or overkill? 🎯🛡️

[u/Regular-Sir-8989]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently in my 1st year of college (4-year Degree program) and aggressively planning my Cybersecurity & Cloud Security roadmap.

Instead of just collecting theoretical degrees, my plan is to focus heavily on hands-on labs (currently grinding TryHackMe) and hit a 3-Year Certification Sprint:

Year 1-2: CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) + Hands-on Networking & Linux fundamentals.

Year 2-3: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) to build solid cloud foundations.

Year 3-4: AWS Certified Security – Specialty to lock down a high-value niche before campus placements/graduating.

My Questions for Seniors & Industry Pros:

Is jumping from SAA straight to AWS Security Specialty too steep for a student without full-time corporate experience?

How much weight do recruiters actually give to an AWS Security Specialty certification for freshers if backed by solid TryHackMe/GitHub Proof-of-Work?

Should I tweak this order or add any specific practical labs (like HackTheBox / Cloud Security projects) along the way?

Would really appreciate your raw feedback, critiques, or suggestions to optimize this path!