From: ying c (bf5tgh1@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Oct 20 2002 - 16:23:21 GMT-3
Hi all,
I passed. This is my third attempt. Thanks to Paul
Borghese, Brian Dennis, Brian McGahan, Fred Ingham,
Hangsang Bae, Mas Kato, Ahmed Mamoor Amimi, and many,
many more whom I have come across since September
2001.
I studied mostly the same stuff as most people. Below
are my 2 cents:
. Get a good night's sleep the night before the exam.
I'm a light sleeper and have trouble sleeping when
changing bed. Sleeping pills made a big difference
this time. It's impossible to fight a pounding
headache and take the long exam at the same time.
. It's a personal preference, but I did redraw the
diagram and use color pens as I worked. It helped me
see the whole picture.
. Time management is crucial. If you cannot solve a
problem in a few minutes, work on something else.
Stupid mistakes can happen, sometimes you just have to
come back to it later. They don't double ding you.
Learning how to walk away from the subjects you've
done hundreds of times is difficult, but also remember
that you only need 80 points to pass. Secure whatever
you can and fix the problem later.
. Don't get discouraged even you fail. I was about to
quit after my second attempt, I did not get the
infrastructure up and wasn't sure if I could get 20
points when I drove home. It's always hard when we
fail, all we need to do is take a break and gather
ourselves together. If you are there, you'll be there.
. Take time to read and understand the requirements,
ask the proctor if you have the slightest doubt. The
worse that could happen is they throw the problem back
to you, but most of the time they will try their best
to clarify the requirement for you. The proctors I met
were great - they did not bite. English is my second
language, if I could do it, you can do it much better.
. Save the config often and save it again if you have
to reload it. I almost blew it this time when I
reloaded one of the routers before lunch; I lost all
routing protocols except for the basic config. Luckily
I reminded myself not to go into panic mode as I had
in my earlier attempts and was be able to fix it in
about 30 minutes or so.
. Don't rush, all the questions are solvable. Time is
more than enough when you work logically and
thoroughly. It's more difficult and time consuming
when you have to troubleshoot the problems you created
for yourself. If you have to troubleshoot, check from
bottom up, stupid mistakes kill, and they are normally
in the places we overlook. I kicked myself on my
second attempt by putting the addresses in the wrong
vlans and did not find it until it was too late.
. Keep track of what you are doing. It helps you to
make sure all the big ticket items are checked and not
missed.
Good luck and best wishes to all.
Chang
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