From: Tony Olzak (aolzak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Wed Jan 10 2001 - 16:32:42 GMT-3
I passed on my second attempt yesterday.
The difference this time? I finished the entire lab by about 11:30AM on Day
1 and had the rest of the time to check my configs five or six times over. I
caught two mistakes that would have cost me some points.
Tony Olzak, CCIE #6689
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michelle T" <mtruman@mn.mediaone.net>
To: <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 1:22 PM
Subject: Second Attempts
> If anyone is feeling so inclined to, I would be interested in hearing
about
> second attempts. I am about to take mine and have been wondering a lot
about
> what it will be like. I took my first attempt in March of last year, so it
> seems like it has been a long time. I remember being really surprised at
how
> un-prepared I was. I thought I knew routing and switching very well and
had
> a chance at passing the first time. Well, I was surprised to find that
> routing and switching really were not my biggest problems, though I did
not
> know them as well as I thought I did. There is a big difference between
> knowing how to get a protocol up and working and understanding the inner
> workings of that protocol and the gotchas and rules. Most importantly, I
> discovered that you will never get to the layer 3 stuff you feel
comfortable
> with if you can't get Layer 1 and 2 working flawlessly. I did ok on L1,
but
> layer 2 issues caught me very much by surprise. I felt I encountered just
> about every frame format that exists in that lab on that day. And as I
> frantically searched the CD and watched the time tick away at a surreal
> speed, I realized I had a long way to go.
>
> That night, knowing I would not make it the next day, I seriously
> contemplated giving up. I think I knew deep down just how much time this
was
> going to take and had myself nearly talked out of it. Lucky for me I have
an
> understanding and encouraging spouse who gently kicked me in the butt and
> got me going again.
>
> I just looked back at a lab I had practiced on a lot before that first
> attempt. It's from the U of M practice lab and I remember spending an
entire
> weekend on it. I think I could do it now in a couple of hours. But at the
> time, I thought I was doing pretty well. Now I realize that it is so
> important to know things right off the top of your head so you can have
some
> time for the things that don't quite make sense or for which there isn't
an
> obvious answer jumping out at you. Anyway, regardless of the outcome, I
just
> believe this will be a completely different experience and know that if I
> pass, I will have earned it and if I don't pass, I don't have nearly as
far
> to go as I once did.
>
> Thanks for your thoughts in advance!
>
> Michelle Truman
>
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