From: Chacko, Raj (RChacko@DRAFTNET.com)
Date: Wed Jan 25 2006 - 18:57:33 GMT-3
And the Glory goes to HIM
I am not going to break the tradition (nor the NDA), so here is my story.
I started towards my CCIE goal as soon as I got my CCNP which was in Feb
last year. I started ebay shopping for all the equipment I thought I'd need
while preparing for the written. I got done with my written in June and
started to work towards the lab at a slow pace. On August 1st, Cisco
announced that they will be changing the lab dramatically beginning 2006; I
had already invested money in ATM and ISDN equipment so I decided that I
should book the last available day in 2005 for my lab exam giving myself the
maximum possible time to prepare for the lab. I booked my lab for Dec 21st,
this was the last day before Cisco would close for the holidays. I was
hoping for a perfect Xmas gift. I went through Version 7 of the workbook, it
took me about 3 months, November was on me and I knew I had only about a
month and a half to go before the big day. Meanwhile my employer agreed to
pay for 1 lab attempt and a five day course at Cyscoexpert. The course
helped me figure out some of the things I was not doing right. Soon I bought
both the workbooks from IE and started working on them. I completed all labs
by the weekend before my big day. My lab day was on a Wednesday and I shut
down my rack Saturday evening, my strategy was to rest up and rejuvinate. I
watched movies; relaxed for the next 3 days, didn't even touch a book. Took
an early flight on the 20th to RTP. Rented a car and drove over to the
building later that day to see how things are and how to get there in the
morning. I was relaxed, confident (too confident) and felt good. Problem
started after I went to bed, I just couldn't sleep. I should have taken some
NyQuil or Benadryl or something; but anyways, drove over to the site next
morning with blood shot eyes. The lab was fairly easy; got done with about
20 minutes to spare. I left a 3 pointer that I couldn't figure out and was
doubtful about my multicast configuration. So all in all I thought I'd loose
less than 10 points.
Flew home to find the that I had failed. What a humbling experience; God
showed me who is in control right then. My pride start to melt away. I just
couldn't figure it out as to what happened. I thought that this is a
conspiracy and they make people fail on purpose so that they can keep the
numbers down; and if you make the slightest mistake they will even take away
points from sections on which you scored well. This was my immediate
reaction. The next morning, I started to compare my score report with what
the questions were and what I had typed up. I started to see things I had
forgotten to configure, mistakes I made for sure at this point.
As soon as I started to see the mistakes I made, I decided to make my 2nd
attempt ASAP. Cisco makes you wait for 30 days so I booked my lab for the
23rd of this month, after the 30 day mark. I also decided that I will not
let this lab come in the way of my personal time with my family and kids.
During these 30 days, I did everything but study. At the end, in order to
polish up my skills, the last 3 days I did a few labs from IE.
Sunday night, I slept better and was able to go to the lab with a clear
head. The lab exam was similar to the last one as far as difficulty. This
time I was much faster to accomplish the tasks. Didn't have to deal with
stupid ISDN; and was done with my BGP before lunch. Another hour and a half
after lunch, and I was done with the whole lab. I started to double check
and found a nasty problem which was introduced by something I had to
configure after lunch. Fixed it, double checked everything, rebooted all
devices, ran tcl scripts and triple checked all configurations. Everything
was fine and dandy and I had another 30 minutes to spare.
Flew back home and this morning I logged on to find out that I had passed.
Things that I learnt during this journey and may be helpful hints for
others.
1. If you don't try it you'll never find out how it is, just do it,
you may be surprised.
2. Don't wait too much time between your attempts. Period.
3. Check your configurations right after you are done with a section
and later on at the end of the day; check your configurations again. Things
change and they are designed that way.
4. You need to have a clear head and a clear understanding of all the
basic concepts
5. Troubleshooting should become your 2nd nature. (it will when you
know how stuff really works)
6. Never waste time stuck at a problem, spend 10 minutes and move on.
(I know for most of us this is the hardest. practice this prior to the lab)
7. Enjoy, this is what you'll be doing the rest of your life?
People I need to thank
First of all I'd like to thank my beautiful loving wife and my kids for
sacrificing many weekends and evenings while I was having fun with the
routers and switches. I also have to thank all the people who prayed for me;
all my relatives and friends.
I have to thank you Scott for everything you are and you are doing for the
CCIE community. You are an inspiration to everyone. The sound of your voice
explaining the technologies will never be forgotten and a special thanks for
hooking me up with the 4500 router requirement.
Brian's at IE, what an awesome product you have. Your workbook kept me
always so excited with every new lab teaching another new technology in a
fine fashion.
Mr. Mehta, Tom and Bahram at cyscoexpert; I had a lot of fun with you guys.
You are the best. Bahram, thanks for all the tips and tricks, you guys rock.
My ex-boss Daryl for sowing the seed in me by sending me to a Routing class
in November 2004 which got this whole thing started. The one thing that
class taught me was that I don't really know anything about routing and I
was only scratching the surface with my 3 years of CCNA status.
My current boss Mike for paying for my first attempt and sending me to
additional training (and his boss Ray)
All the participants on this group including Paul for providing us with a
venue for such energetic and exciting conversations. Chris you are a true
QOS guru. All the contributors for your unselfish dedication to this group
What an enjoyable journey this was. Voice, here I come....
Kind regards,
Rajesh Chacko #15703
btw, I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before the lab.
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