From: Ben Rife (brife@xxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Thu May 18 2000 - 22:12:15 GMT-3
I first of all want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement
along the way. It was a very long and difficult journey for me.
In response to many requests, heres my story.
I started the certification about 3 years ago when working with my buddy
Greg. We worked on a project to install and configure a 20-router
internetwork of Cisco routers for the City of Troy, MI.
Greg told me how hot the market was for a CCIE. That began my pursuit
I began the journey by taking a couple of Cisco classes from ARG: ICRC,
ACRC, CIT, and CIM. These proved to be a waste of time and money, so I
decided to dive in and take the written qualification exam to begin the long
journey to CCIE.
I took a flyer at the test and failed, but it gave me an idea of what to
study for. I used The CCIE Study Guide, by Roosevelt Giles, to prepare for
the test. A couple of weeks later, on February 9th, 1999, I passed the
written qualification exam with a 66%, on my third try.
At this point, I made Cisco my primary product of business. I pursued
customers with the hopes of implementing some type of routing or switching
to gain experience. It proved to be very profitable for the company and for
me, however, this was not enough experience. I needed experience with legacy
protocols and obscure technologies. This could only come from having my own
equipment.
After trying to buy routers on ebay.com and other various sites, I grew
tired of loosing the auction at the last minute, so I called around until I
found a used Cisco hardware dealer. I bought 5 routers, a catalyst switch,
and many V.35 cables from him. I also bought a Teltone ISDN Demonstrator, a
new PC, and many books.
In all, I have invested about $12,000 on the equipment, $4500 on the test,
$3000 on books and various Internet subscriptions, and $1000 on rented rack
time and purchased labs, for a grand total of about $20,500 out of my
pocket. Note that I said Invested.
My inventory consists of the following:
Cisco 2501
Cisco 2502
Cisco 2503
Cisco 2504
Cisco 2509
Cisco 2520
CAT2902
Teltone ISDN Demonstrator
2 Token Ring MAUs
Bridges Routers and Switches, (Referred to as the CCIE Bible), Andrew Bruce
Caslow
The CCIE Study Guide, Roosevelt Giles
Advanced IP Routing, William Parkhurst
Cisco Routers for Bridging, DLSW+, and Desktop Protocols, Tan Nam-Kee
Internet Routing Architectures, Bassam Halabi
IP Multicast Routing, William Parkhurst
Cisco Router OSPF, William Parkhurst
Cisco TCP/IP Routing, Chris Lewis
Cisco Switched Internetworks, Chris Lewis
OSPF Network Design Solutions, Tom Thomas II
CLSC Exam Certification Guide, Kevin Downes and Tim Boyles
Routing TCP/IP, Jeff Doyle
CCIE Prep.com Study Guide, Rossi
Voice and Data Internetworking, Reld
Network Design and Case Studies, Cisco Press
CCIE Lab Study Guide, Satterlee and Hutnik
Now that I have passed the qualification exam, it was off to Raleigh, NC
(RTP)
I first took the lab in July; I was one point away from making it to day
two. Disappointed, I went home and rescheduled. I couldnt get enough
motivation to even look at my routers for a month after coming back from
Raleigh.
My second attempt was in September. Yet again, I was a couple of points shy
from making it past day 1.
My third attempt was December 5th-6th. For the third time, I was told that
I could not go on to day 2. I was beginning to wonder if this was worth it.
At this point, I felt like giving up for good, but I had invested so much
time, effort, and money to turn back now. The sacrifice was starting to
weigh on me.
I scheduled a fourth attempt for February 6th-7th. This time, I had enough
points to see what was waiting for me on day 2. It was exactly as I had
expected, but I hadnt prepared well enough for the legacy stuff! I was a
few points shy of making it to troubleshooting.
This time, I was determined to give it 110% or resign to never having those
4 numbers after my name. I couldnt handle it any more. There was a
tremendous sacrifice involved in obtaining CCIE, and I had put my life on ho
ld for the past two years. I couldnt endure another failure.
I decided that I needed some incentive, so I prepared a 30+ page Proposal
for Promotion for my boss and his. It was a document to justify my asking
salary, benefits, and other perks, upon obtaining the CCIE. I presented it
to them over dinner. It was well received and encouraged me to pursue the
CCIE once again.
Now, the preparation for my final attempt began
I purchased time on racks of equipment from cciebootcamp.com for ATM and
VoIP experience, and purchased many sample labs. I worked on my weak points
heavily, after making sure I was solid on the basics. I studied for about
two months for 6 hours a day. Two weeks before the test, I studied every day
for about 16 hours. I stopped studying 2 days before taking the test to give
myself a break and time to relax.
I flew out Friday afternoon and made my way to hotel Marriott. By the way,
the other times, I stayed at Holiday Inn. The place is so run down, I
thought I was in the inner city. The food/service is despicable; my rental
car was starting to look attractive after staying there. My point is that it
s important to stay somewhere where you can be comfortable. For me,
Marriott was very accommodating.
Friday night, I called my girlfriend before going to bed. She spoke a few
words of encouragement This is your time, You go in there and take names
and numbers, cause youre going to be one of the few, You can do it, Im
so proud of you!
After tossing and turning all night, I awoke in the morning and called my
girlfriend before leaving for the test. She prayed with me on the phone and
spoke sweet words of affirmation. Her prayer was simply that the test would
be easy and that I would be confident.
Lisas prayer worked. The test was unbelievably easy for me. In fact, I
finished in 3 ½ hours. I sat around for the next 4 hours and contemplated
how I would look in that CCIE leather jacket that was hanging in front of
me.
I went back to the hotel feeling pretty good. I had a nice dinner and
reviewed some legacy stuff that I thought I might see on day 2.
The next morning, I called my girlfriend, who prayed with me again and
encouraged me. Once again, her prayer worked. I walked into the lab and the
proctor told me Yours was easy to grade, you got a perfect score. Thats
right, I smoked day 1. That meant that I was definitely going onto day 2 and
that I had a nice cushion.
The day 2 exam was handed to me and the clock began to spin faster and
faster. The heat was turned up for sure. I knew I wouldnt have it quite as
easy as day 1. I ran across some interesting land mines in the test. There
were things that I had never seen before and just skipped over. At this
point, I was just hoping, my cushion from day 1 would help me get to
troubleshooting. In the last few minutes, I did a quick search on the Doc CD
to find an answer and what do you know? I found it. I found the answer to a
problem I didnt know. Something, Ive never seen before. Thank God. That
secured my position.
After a 15-minute lunch break, the proctor graded our labs and told us if we
were going to troubleshooting. The proctor told me that I had lost 7 points
in the day 2 stuff. That meant that I had a total of 68 out of 75 total
points. Needing 80 total points to pass, I needed to get 12 points in
troubleshooting to pass. It was so nearyet so far away. While waiting for
the proctor to break my equipment, I contemplated all the time that I had
spent preparing for the lab and all that was riding on those last 12 points.
The proctor had introduced some major faults into my network. Some of the
problems were so complex that I just had to laugh. After working for 3 hours
and documenting and fixing 27 problems, I was finished. The proctor sent me
out of the lab while he checked everything. I was hoping and praying that it
was enough. After being this close, if I had failed, I would have to give up
for good.
After 30 minutes, the lab door opened and the proctor handed me a CCIE
T-shirt and my CCIE number (5886) on a card. I had done it. It was finally
over. Now, I can move on with my life.
I have found that the tests are not necessarily different at different
testing locations. The difference is the proctor. The proctor can make you
or break you. The proctor I had on day 1, Denise, bent over backwards to
help everyone and to calm nerves. The proctor I had on day 2, nameless, was
very rude and unorganized. I feared that he would lend to my demise. It
worked out though. Too bad you cant request a certain proctor!
The thing that helped me the most was to take the lab and fail. That
experience disproved all the rumors I had heard and showed me my weaknesses.
It allowed me to focus. It also showed me that it was obtainable. The other
thing that helped me was practice, practice, and more practice on my
routers. I implemented every possible lab scenario I could think of or buy.
There were many people that didnt believe in me. One of which, was my boss
s boss. He demonstrated this, by refusing to pay for my repeated failures
and the associated travel. It was his expectation that I should have passed
on the first couple of tries. He thought that I was pursuing it too
aggressively and that I should take some time off. He even went so far as to
say that he would pay for it if I put it off for a month. To me, that was
ridiculous. I knew what the test required and I wasnt about to delay the
ultimate. I decided that once again, I would pay for it myself. That way, I
would have no one to answer to! Meanwhile, my boss, Rich, was backing me up
110%. He went to bat for me and did everything he could to help me out.
There was only one thing I needed, timetime on the routers.
As with any CCIE Candidate, their spouse/girlfriend are forced to live in
solitude until the CCIE status is obtained. Lisa (Lise), my girlfriend, has
sacrificed her time with me, weekends, birthdays, holidays, etc. She has
been my encouragement when I came back empty handed. She always encouraged
me to re-schedule the test and to never give up until I have reached my
goal. She believed in me and understood the level of dedication involved.
Thanks Babe!
There is a great deal of sacrifice involved in obtaining CCIE. For me,
personally, which is very common among my peers is a complete dedication to
the pursuit.
The first time I took the test, I spent probably 12 hours a day for two
months, studying, while working from home. This was an unusual work
situation, but my boss allowed it so I could dedicate the time required to
pass. Each time I took the exam, it was preceded by many more hours of
intense preparation, missing out on birthdays, holidays, and special get
togethers. I put off seeing family and friends and became a little less
involved in the things that really matter to me. One of those was my Church,
Kensington. For the past two years, I have not been quite the regular
attender that I would like to have been. When I did get a chance to get away
from the books and routers, I felt guilty and couldnt enjoy myself. I
struggled with that on a daily basis. The past two years are gone; I have
missed spending time with my father, brothers, and girlfriend. I couldnt
fish, golf, workout, ride my bike, etc. I even put off buying a house
because I didnt want to have to worry about maintaining the lawn or take
the time to look for a house. Luckily, I was in a position where I had to
sign a new lease on my apartment or move, so I quickly found a house. My
agent, the best agent in the world, Bob Harris, was very understanding of my
schedule. The beauty of it is that I close on the house the day after I get
back from RTP. I feel like I have won the lottery this week! Thanks Bob!
If I had it to do over, knowing what I know now, I probably wouldnt do it.
The cost is great, not just financially. When Im faced with the end of my
life. I certainly wont be thinking of how glad I am because I got my CCIE,
but I will think about how glad I am to be married the woman of my dreams,
or of how I lived my life to the fullest and pursued God with reckless
abandon. The moral of this saga is that you need to carefully count the cost
and make your decisions based on that. Dont get me wrong, Im glad I made
it, but I shouldnt have put so much emphasis on it. It can consume you, if
you let it. That type of dedication is required though. You better be ready
when you start.
Now that I have passed, you might ask whats next? We shall see
One last thing, THANK YOU JESUS!
Benjy T. Rife
MCSE, CNE, CCIE #5886 (That feels so good!)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Thu Jun 13 2002 - 08:23:30 GMT-3