From: Julie Stewart (stewartj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Thu Apr 19 2001 - 16:21:09 GMT-3
I passed the lab exam on my first attempt in San Jose this week. It was a
tough two days, but if it
weren't tough, it wouldn't have felt so great to pass! After 8 1/2 months
of studying every day
and hundreds of hours on routers, it really paid off! I also feel relieved
because I paid for all of my
training courses and practice labs out of my own pocket, and am thankful I
won't have to finance
another trip and lab fees! :-)
As far as advice to offer, I found the CCIE Bootcamp Labs were a necessity!
I did all of the labs,
and saved the infamous lab 8 for the last week before my lab date. I did
the fatkid labs early in
my training, and then used the Bootcamp labs to tie all the technologies
together. I also read Doyle
and Halabi. I can't say enough about Halabi's book. I wish there were such
comprehensive books
about all of the technologies! Also, I had access to a rack of routers and
switches, which was
essential! I literally spent 8 hours a day on the keyboards. All of the
hands-on practice really
helped me do well in a lot of areas, which helped me through when I didn't
do so well on other
areas I had less practice in. Thanks to Marc Russell, Brad Ellis and Derek
Small for making the
resources available.
I also took ECP1 taught by Bruce Caslow (it was excellent!) and almost all
of the Cisco supported
training classes when I was working my way through the CCNP and CCDP. For
the CCIE exam,
I found the ECP1 class to be worth every cent!
I was really nervous going into the lab. I tried every mental trick I
could, visualization, psychology,
you name it, but I couldn't help being nervous! Thankfully, the CCIEs there
at San Jose (Kathe, Jose, Henry)
were great. Very supportive and kind and approachable. They deserve a
great thanks!
Thank you to all of the folks on this list (especially Paul Borghese) for
pooling their knowledge
and ideas. It is a great resource. I read this list every day during my
training. Also, thanks to Dave
and Josh for helping me with my study efforts. Thanks to my family for
being so supportive. And most of all,
to my best friend and boyfriend, without whom this wouldn't have been
possible.
Sorry for going on so long. I wanted to write something because I always
enjoyed reading about other
people's experiences. The main thing is, be determined and don't get thrown
if you make mistakes or
don't know how to do something. Don't fixate on it. Move on to something
else and then come back
to it. Also, like David Absalom said, don't hesitate to ask the proctor
questions if you don't understand
what is being asked. I made the mistake on Day 2 of not asking questions
about something and it bit me.
Just stay determined, and whatever you do, don't give up. It's not over
'til it's over!
Good luck!
Julie Stewart
CCIE #7227
SAIC, Inc.
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