From: MMoniz (ccie2002@tampabay.rr.com)
Date: Thu Jul 29 2004 - 18:44:24 GMT-3
Well I had a feeling we would see this post!!!! Great Job man!!
Congratulations!!
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com]On Behalf Of
Kenneth Wygand
Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2004 2:51 PM
To: ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: CCIE #13720 - What a Journey!
I passed yesterday in RTP with #13720!
Well, here is my story, and what a journey!
My first computer was a Commodore 128, which I used to play games and
program some applications in Basic. I started professionally working as a
computer technician in 1993 and did so until 1998 having never touched a
networked PC (other than installing network card drivers).
In 1998 I started working on a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science I
accepted a position in a local computer store focusing on small peer-to-peer
LANs, usually running Windows 95 and Windows 98. Having worked as a
computer technician for 6 years, I decided to take the CompTIA A+ exam. I
passed both parts (Hardware and Software) on April 6, 2000.
Wanting to break into Cisco (thinking that someday *I* might be able to
attain the CCIE!) but having no experience, I figured CompTIA's Network+
exam was the next logical progression. I took and passed this exam on June
30, 2000. I then took about 6 months to learn all networking basics and
passed the CCNA on January 26, 2001. Starting in March, I took each of the
CCNP exams within about 3 weeks of each other, completing the certification
in May 2001. I also received my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science in
May 2001.
Not having the experience or time necessary to start working on the CCIE, I
decided to follow the design track, passing both the CCDA and CCDP in June
2001, one 6 days after the other. I then decided to try something in the
Microsoft arena, and passed one of the MCP exams (Windows 98 at the time) 18
days later. I also felt it would be a good idea to demonstrate some Novell
experience as well, and passed the CNA two weeks after that.
I then took a few months out of the books. February of 2002, I accepted a
System Engineer position at Custom Computer Specialists which is where I am
currently working. In early 2002, I purchased a full rack of 2500's, an
ISDN simulator, a bunch of T/R Switches and Cat 5K. Of course, just after I
purchased the equipment, Cisco retired all the T/R equipment from their
testing base. After making some costly lab equipment changes, I started
studying for the CCIE written at that time and passed the qualification exam
on June 6, 2002. This is where I began training for the CCIE R&S Lab as
follows:
June 2002 - Started studying the CCBootCamp labs from Network Learning Inc.
August 2002 - Decided to take three weeks off of CCIE studies to take (and
pass) the ISC2's CISSP security certification (www.isc2.org).
October 2002 - Took a 1-week bootcamp with Skyline Computer. I found out I
completely wasn't ready for a bootcamp, so I learned a lot of the basics but
not nearly all a bootcamp is intended to offer.
January 2003 - Took a 1-week bootcamp with CyscoExpert with Bahram Chaboki
and Brian McGahan (Brian is currently at InternetworkExpert). I learned an
incredible amount of information through this bootcamp, but in retrospect I
really wasn't ready to learn all of the things these two extremely
knowledgeable guys had to offer.
March 2003 - Passed exams required for IP Telephony Design certification.
July 14, 2003 - Failed my first attempt. I felt confident but knew I missed
a few things. I didn't realize each section was "all or nothing" so I lost
a lot of points because I put emphasis in the wrong areas. My biggest
mistake was not knowing the documentation CD well enough, so I didn't know
where to go for support. After this failure, my second mistake was not
sticking with the studies after failing. Frustration set in and I took a
few months liaison from CCIE studies, starting up again in October 2003.
This was a mistake, because from October 2003 until January or February
2004, I spent all my time having to re-learn all the stuff I already knew.
This left me about two to three months left to fully prepare for my next
attempt.
April 26, 2004 - Failed my second attempt. I felt much better about this
attempt but knew I still missed a few points here and there. In fact, as
time went on I kept counting points I missed. Sure enough, I didn't get
enough. It was at this time it seemed just so easy to give up to get my
life back. I requested a re-grade which came back with no change in score.
However, in the time off between the request for a re-grade and the time
when the result came back, I had time to calm down and realize one thing:
"Failure only occurs at the point when you stop trying." Failure was not an
option. Since April 2004, every single free moment in the day or night was
spent in the books and on the rack, probably a total of 500-700 hours of
studies in the 3 months since that attempt.
May 2004 - Went a little crazy and overpurchased study materials (IPExpert's
Lab Workbook, Solution's Guide, Proctor's Guide and Student Handbook,
InternetworkExpert's Lab Workbook and Solution's Guide, and NetMasterClass's
Lab Workbook and Solution's Guide). Needless to say, I had enough time to
complete about two labs in each workbook!
June 2004 - Decided I wanted to take a virtual (via the Internet) bootcamp
as final preparation. I researched both IPExpert (Scott Morris as
instructor) and InternetworkExpert (Brian Dennis and Brian McGahan as
instructors). Before I could make any decisions between the two, IPExpert
was selected because of the two remaining week-long offerings by
InternetworkExpert, one was full and the other one conflicted with my work
schedule. So while I cannot comment on InternetworkExpert's bootcamp,
Scott's bootcamp was very good. It helped me pinpoint certain topics I was
having trouble with and allowed me to ask Scott direct questions that
confused me. Based on feedback I've received from other people, I think
either bootcamp would've given me just what I was looking for.
June - July 2004 - Studied studied studied studied studied... every single
day...
July 28, 2004 - Passed in RTP with #13720.
Now that I have my number, I certainly won't be leaving the GroupStudy
family. This is not a destination, rather another milestone in the journey.
I'm always willing to help anyone else out in any way I can. I've met a lot
of friends along the way and I can't wait to share in their success when
their post hits the GroupStudy boards... :)
It's all about the journey... make the most of it!
Kenneth E. Wygand
Systems Engineer, Project Services
CCIE #13720, CISSP #37102, ACSP, Cisco IPT Design Specialist, MCP, CNA, A+
Custom Computer Specialists, Inc.
"Failure only occurs at the point when you stop trying."
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