Of all the roads that lead to Rome...

Back in January, when I started blogging about my learning journey as a SolidWorks apprentice, I had no idea of all the different roads that I would be travelling in hopes to arrive to my destination and ultimate goal of learning and becoming proficient with this software. I have tried so many different ways so far that I almost lost count! I started with the tutorials that come with the student edition, took an extremely short class at a community college, read Matt Lombard’s SolidWorks Bible, as well as a few other SolidWorks books, and also took a few video lessons from Solid Professor and Inspirtech. But the one thing that I hadn’t tried so far was the kind of training that is offered through the VARs.  And, while I didn’t actually take the classes at the VAR, I did the closest thing to that. I was lucky enough (or better say my hubby was lucky enough) to find a few of the SolidWorks manuals for sale on eBay for a very reasonable price.  Today, I just finished working my way through the very first one of them, SolidWorks Essentials, and I absolutely loved it! 

Since they are designed and written for the purpose of training, my guess is that these manuals are meant to be clear and easy to understand. For me, the Essentials manual was excellent material for self-study, and even when it arrived too late to help me prepare for the CSWA, I still gained a much better understanding of the basics of SolidWorks through the lessons, and all the examples and exercises  that are included in with it. I can only imagine that the learning experience must be at least ten times better for those fortunate ones that can attend the training lessons at the VAR. I can see how a teacher can add from his/her personal experience and creativity and make it even more interesting and challenging.

If I worked for the kind of company that can afford it, and was in charge of selecting training methods and/or materials for me and/or my co-workers, the training lessons offered at VARs would probably be my first choice. As an individual, however, I can’t afford this kind of training, so I have to find other options. I wish it was possible to buy only the manuals from the VAR, without having to pay full price of taking the lessons, but my guess is that it’s not. Anyway, I’m not really complaining about it. As I said before, I was lucky to find some of the manuals for sale. And for those I haven’t found, well, I’ll just keep my eyes opened, just in case.