From: Lei Chen (leichen@xxxxxxxxx)
Date: Wed Sep 20 2000 - 02:28:54 GMT-3
Sorry, I don't know about NDA.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Baumgartner" <kbaumgar@cisco.com>
To: <leichen@cisco.com>
Cc: <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2000 10:11 PM
Subject: Re: CCIE #6231
> That means he would have to invalid his NDA that he signed when
> he took the test.
>
> Kevin
>
> >
> > Congratulations!
> > My lab test is scheduled a week later from now, at SEp 27th. Helps from
new
> > CCIEs are definitely needed. Could you tell me what kinds of questions
on
> > ipx routing and ip multicast routing you were asked during the test?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Lei
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "David H. Brown" <DHBrown@PipeLine.com>
> > To: <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2000 9:29 PM
> > Subject: CCIE #6231
> >
> >
> > > Today I was awarded CCIE # 6231 in RTP, NC!!!!
> > >
> > > Since I don't have a web site to refer everyone to, I will post my
story
> > > here. Feel free to delete it... I have been looking forward to
writing
> > > this note, and I must have created 25 mental post-it's of things I
wanted
> > to
> > > be sure to include. All of that memory was reclaimed and filled with
IOS
> > > commands, so now I'm going to have to wing it after all.
> > >
> > > I started this adventure last October when I passed the written exam.
I
> > > then bought and read Caslow, Doyle and Hutnik, and I found this list
and
> > > joined in January -- clearly a good move. I found out how little I
knew,
> > > and how much more I have to (even still) learn. I bought a rack and
> > filled
> > > it with routers, an ISDN simulator and a phone line simulator. This
was
> > > beginning to be fun! I configured the rack with any scenario I could
> > find.
> > > I strongly recommend ccbootcamp.com, Marc's labs are an excellent
> > > preparation tool for the real lab. I also used labs from fatkid.com,
and
> > > then any scenarios that popped on the list. Being with a Cisco
partner, I
> > > was able to have access to the ASET program, which was also a huge
help.
> > > After all of that preparation, I failed badly on my first attempt in
> > March.
> > >
> > > Feeling whooped by the ten-to-floor-ya lab, I avoided touching my rack
for
> > a
> > > few weeks. My next attempt was set for June, so I figured I would
start
> > up
> > > again a few weeks before then. Bad choice -- avoid waiting until the
last
> > > 'few weeks' to study. Take a look at some of the posts of people
looking
> > to
> > > trade dates to get more time -- I would venture to say some of them
should
> > > have not waited for the date to come so close to prepare for it. I
went
> > in
> > > to the second attempt thinking I would see something close to what I
saw
> > the
> > > first time, and I could just skate through no problem. Time to
interject
> > > that I have been certifying for quite some time. I passed the CNE in
> > 1990,
> > > I had been working with NetWare since 2.0a was the cat's meow. MCSE
was
> > not
> > > a terrible challenge, nor was Citrix, Checkpoint was not hard -- I
even
> > > passed the CCNP and CCDP. The CCIE lab is nothing like any of those
> > > certifications, and may it never be. With the other certs, there are
> > study
> > > mechanisms and a limited number of potential questions. Well, I
suppose
> > > there are a limited number of questions that can be asked on the lab,
but
> > > that number is much much higher than the pool of 150 questions that
are on
> > > the other tests. Needless to say, I was quite surprised to see a
> > completely
> > > different exam. I did well, making it to day 2 but not to
> > troubleshooting.
> > >
> > > I had scheduled to go again in September, and I apparently didn't
learn
> > from
> > > previous experience NOT to wait around. See, I learned even more than
how
> > > to properly route and switch packets. I bought a bunch of Cisco Press
> > > books, and read through most of them. I also read the Cisco Voice
book by
> > > Robert Caputo, it seems to have all the basics -- though nothing
replaces
> > > hands on. There was a problem with my new lab date, and I was able to
> > move
> > > up quite a bit and get in in August (thanks Christine!). That was
only 2
> > > weeks away!! I figured I could slam the routers full time nights and
> > > weekends, like I did before, and I would be fine. Nope. Another
> > completely
> > > different test, with a twist I could not figure out (until I got back
> > home).
> > > I was again able to make day 2, but a few careless mistakes and I went
> > home
> > > again before troubleshooting. This was getting old. I realized I
must be
> > > worse than average, since the average pass was on the third attempt.
In
> > > reality, I was just not an expert yet -- since experts don't make
careless
> > > mistakes like I did.
> > >
> > > This entire time, I was trying to balance having a life along with
working
> > > full time and studying for the exam. There were vacations to take and
> > > church functions to prepare for and attend that would take much of my
> > > non-working time. After reading other's posts about not having a life
and
> > > reading the "what will I do now that I passed" posts, I realized that
> > there
> > > is something more important than passing this exam. It's about
> > priorities:
> > > God, Family, THEN occupation. When you mess these up, life gets
messed
> > up.
> > > Although I tried to get my priorities straight before my third
attempt, I
> > > was unable to because I felt the short time I had to prepare should be
> > spent
> > > completely on the routers. Ehhhnnnt, wrong. After the third failure,
I
> > > changed the priorities back to where they should have been right
along. I
> > > was blinded for months by the allure of gaining the medallion,
forgetting
> > > that all this will be gone someday, and that day could be any day for
any
> > > one of us. Oh, I did keep studying in every moment I could, but my
> > attitude
> > > was changing. It was not an overnight change, but a process that I am
> > still
> > > dealing with daily. When the children asked me to play a game with
them,
> > my
> > > February answer was "don't bother me now." I did mellow that response
> > after
> > > a while to "I can't right now, but after June 17." For the last few
> > weeks,
> > > the answer became, "sure, let's play -- but you need to be in bed on
time
> > so
> > > Daddy can get his studying done." Oh, that was much sweeter to them
as
> > well
> > > as to me -- since I love to play games with my children. I came home
> > > tonight to a small congratulatory reception, and we proceeded to play
a
> > > game. To me, that is the right way to be. This experience has been a
> > > tremendous period of growth for me -- not just technically, since even
the
> > > exam is not just about knowing the IOS. It's about the pressure you
are
> > > under at any time, can you do it in this very limited amount of time?
And
> > > can you get it right the first time, because when you go over it with
the
> > > proctor, it's too late to fix it. Speaking of the proctors, I have
seen
> > > messages that have said bad things about the RTP proctor Alan Lanier.
> > Could
> > > it possibly be enjoyable to have a job where every day you have to
tell
> > 80%
> > > (or more) of the candidates that enter the room that they have
failed?? I
> > > think not, after seeing his joyful demeanor while presenting me with
the
> > > coveted yellow sticky note. I think THAT is the fun part for him.
After
> > all
> > > of my tests, I say that he was always fair -- although I really would
have
> > > enjoyed passing on my first attempt, it was not Alan's fault. I have
only
> > > my poor preparation to blame for my (yes MY) failures. Now I will be
able
> > > to reap the rewards of my successful completion of the lab exam.
Lesson
> > > learned: keep your priorities straight.
> > >
> > > For this fourth and final attempt, I again had a completely different
test
> > > (they seem to have lots of different tests.) I was able to manage my
time
> > > well and complete the lab very early, leaving myself time to go over
it to
> > > find and fix anything I may have misinterpreted. I was ecstatic to
reach
> > > troubleshooting, quite sure that at least one of the other two that
> > started
> > > day two with me would make it before I would. Sadly, it was just me.
The
> > > last section is very stressful, but I was able to gather enough points
to
> > > reach the mark.
> > >
> > > In the final part of my note (one of my mental post-it's came back to
me),
> > I
> > > wanted to say thank you to the ones who helped me in some way to reach
> > this
> > > goal of mine. Some helped me technically, others were my non
technical
> > > support:
> > > God
> > > My wife and five children
> > > Jay Thompson
> > > Meredith Davison
> > > Mark Martin
> > > Christine Jeffrey
> > > Lori C.
> > > Ron P.
> > > Angelo M.
> > > Jomi S.
> > > The DNE Team
> > > Paul S. & family
> > > Pat & Jeff
> > > CCIElab@GroupStudy.com
> > >
> > > David
> > >
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