From: Amit Jain (netsteps@rediffmail.com)
Date: Thu May 26 2005 - 06:23:30 GMT-3
Hey Sammy
Congrats on nailing it right on !!!
Currently I am taking the IE Class on Demand and I know IE make wondors in
what they do. Cheers Brians !!!
Amit Jain
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sammy Wong" <swong093@adelphia.net>
To: <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2005 8:53 AM
Subject: Passed at RTP
> Hi everyone,
>
>
>
> I just wanted to say I passed the lab at RTP this past Monday.
>
>
>
> I'd like to take this time to give credit where credit is due. I thank
God
> for being with me during this entire process from start to finish. With
God
> all things are possible.even if it's highly improbable like passing the
CCIE
> on my first try!
>
>
>
> Thanks to the 2 Brians at InternetworkExpert. I appreciate the feedback I
> got from the mock labs and enjoyed your technology seminars, especially
the
> IPv6 one.
>
>
>
> Thanks to Scott Morris and his wonderful Audio Bootcamp. It was a great
> summary of the most common technologies on the lab. I listened to you
quite
> a lot in the car!
>
>
>
> Thanks to Bill Burns at Racktimerentals. RTR was my rental provider of
> choice. Anytime I needed a cable reseated or encountered a hardware
issue,
> Bill responded in a quick, helpful manner. Or as Bill once quipped, "I
was
> trying to test your troubleshooting skills today!" :-)
>
>
>
> To Bruce, Val, and Bob at Netmasterclass - THANK YOU. They changed the
way
> I saw internetworking technologies by making me focus on grouping
> technologies by similar characteristics. That breakdown later helped with
> creating decision diagrams and checklists.
>
>
>
> I've included a list of things that helped me on my quest for the CCIE.
> It's kind of long and mostly common sense. I figure everyone has read the
> same textbooks so I don't mention that below. I realize there is no
> one-size-fits-all method in preparing for the CCIE, but here's what worked
> for me:
>
>
>
> Workbooks -
>
> I started off by using the IE Vol 1 workbook. It was a great way to lay
> down the foundation that I needed to pass the CCIE lab. The answers in
the
> answer key are easy to understand and thorough. After doing each of the
> labs a number of times, I bought the NMC DOiT workbook and that took me to
> the next level. In my opinion, the scenarios in that book are more
> challenging than the real exam but that's what I needed. I knew if I
could
> tackle the hard stuff, I would be better prepared to deal with the real
> thing. During the final few weekends, I did the DOiT labs in order of
> increasing difficulty - 15, 16, 13, 14, 17, 18, 5, 6, 1, & 24.
>
>
>
> Attention to Detail -
>
> I took the IE Mock Lab 1 in March and got a 63. That was an eye-opener!
> Only then did I realize just how easy it was to lose more than 20 points.
> After reviewing what I had did wrong, I realized most of my wounds were
> self-inflicted! I had much too many careless mistakes. I actually could
> have gotten back over 20 points and passed if I had been more careful.
It's
> important to verify your work with show commands and debugs if necessary.
> Also, speed makes an impact too because the faster you can finish the lab,
> the more time you have to double-check your answers afterwards.
>
>
>
> Taking the RS-NMC-1 class - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
>
> I took the class in early April. This step was probably the most
> instrumental in helping me get my number. Up until the time I took the
> bootcamp, I had been studying real hard. But, I didn't have a good study
> plan. My mindset going into the class was that universal connectivity was
> the most important part of the exam and everything else was peripheral.
> What I found out instead, was that critical mass topics are the things
that
> make or break a candidate. Fortunately, I had done my fair share of DOiT
> labs prior to attending the class. By the time I attended the class, I
was
> able to confidently get to the golden moment. The selection of topics
that
> Bruce, Val, and Bob covered ended up being perfect for me because they
were
> the ones I was traditionally weak in.the critical mass topics!
>
>
>
> Pressure -
>
> By the time I returned to work the following week, everyone thought I had
> already taken the lab and were asking me how I did! I had to explain to
> them that I had just taken a training class and nothing more. But things
> were never the same again. Since I had taken the bootcamp, everyone
> naturally assumed I was going to be taking the lab real soon. Do you
> realize just how annoying it is to have everyone ask you, "So are you
ready
> for the exam?" Or "Don't worry, you'll do fine." From that point
forward,
> I tried to keep my intentions a secret. If people didn't suspect anything
> out of the ordinary, then it was just business as usual and it minimized
> stress for me. Only a trusted few knew.
>
>
>
> Horizontal Learning -
>
> Horizontal learning was a big part of my study plan. I knew critical mass
> topics were key. I spent my final few weeks pouring over the IE and DOiT
> labs, going from scenario to scenario, concentrating solely on one topic
> (like multicast, for example) and making sure I could come up with just
> exactly what the solution should be in answer key. I never touched any
> routers during this time. I just wanted to see if I could spot the
issues.
> The IE answer key is great because it's catered specifically toward this
> type of piece-meal learning. However, NMC has a lot going for it in their
> extremely powerful SHOWiT tool. Going over multicast, for example, I
could
> display the routing table and the mroute table and know exactly where a
RPF
> check failure was going to happen. And all without touching a single
> router!
>
>
>
> Creating a Checklist and Knowing Thy Options -
>
> The next part of my study plan was to create a checklist and know my
> options. These two things go hand in hand. The checklist is a logical
> progression of steps used to tackle a problem. However, the wording in
the
> lab will often determine what options will be taken away. There were two
> instances in my exam where I was forced to think outside the box. The
> important thing is not to make a snap judgment when you first read the
> problem. Take time to analyze what is being asked. You should know
> multiple ways of accomplishing a task and think about which solution best
> fits the problem. I used Jongsoo's checklist and the NMC TechLibrary
> decision diagrams as a starting point.
>
>
>
> Speed -
>
> I was able to improve my speed by working on the DOiT workbook. The
> scenarios in that workbook are hard to say the least. At first I couldn't
> finish them. Over time, things gradually became second-nature. I got
> better and, consequently, I got faster. When I took the lab on Monday, I
> was able to get to the golden moment, configure BGP, and finish multicast
> all before lunch. That was important because that gave me time to
> investigate topics on the doc cd I wasn't too familiar with.
>
>
>
> Studygroup -
>
> I'd like to thank Paul for the Groupstudy resource. Not only is it a
great
> repository of knowledge, I find it's nice to know I wasn't alone in my
quest
> for the CCIE. In a world full of things that work against you, it's
> refreshing to see so much encouragement being shared among fellow peers.
I
> also had the pleasure of attending Bruce's Saturday studygroup. I must
say
> I learned quite a lot of QoS during those weeks.
>
>
>
> I've been through a lot of the same emotional rollercoasters and heard the
> naysayers who didn't believe it could be done. Don't let those things
> rattle you. Let me tell you, it's all worth it in the end. As important
as
> getting the number is, don't forget you are honing your character
> too.learning to deal with adversity, developing determination, and
building
> faith. Those things you can take with you anywhere you go in life. Okay,
> I'm done ranting.
>
>
>
> Sammy Wong
>
> CISSP, CCIE #14686
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
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