From: Lopez,James (JLOPEZ@vha.com)
Date: Fri Apr 21 2006 - 10:08:21 GMT-3
Congratulations!!! Well Done!!!
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Larry Roberts
Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 7:01 AM
To: 'CCIE Security Mailing List'; ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: Now its my turn
Well, finally I get my chance to write this e-mail. On the 19th of April
I officially became CCIE 16084. (Security)
Its been a long road for me and I have paid the light bills more that
once or twice for Cisco.
First time was 4 or so years ago. I wasn't ready, but I didn't have a
clue how to study for the lab. At this point I had never even heard of
groupstudy and I don't think anyone even offered a workbook at this
point. I failed, but it was semi-respectable.
Fast forward another year and its time again. This time I think that I'm
prepared. and I go in and give it a good shot. Turns out I wasn't. I had
a couple questions that I didn't understand what they were wanting.
Fast forward another year. I know I'm ready at this point. I have
subscribed to groupstudy and really started digging into the material.
I take the lab and I'm sure I nailed it. I get my results and its my
poorest showing yet. I finished early, reviewed my work and still
failed. At this point its no longer material thats getting me, but
rather the questions.
Fast forward 2 months. My written is about to expire and I need to get
this thing done. The format has changed and now the lab is
pre-configured. R&S points were gimme points so now I'm a little
nervous. I go in and nail the lab. I'm convinced I pass. I almost
celebrate. Then I get the result...Fail. In my lab the IDS sensor
wouldn't save the config. I get my results back and I get 0 for the IDS
stuff. If I calculated correctly I was within 3-4 points of passing and
the IDS stuff killed me. I was smart enough to ask the proctors to grade
me IDS stuff before they do any work on it, so either they didn't or I
missed something. Who knows.
Fast forward 1 year and 3 months to April 19th 2006. I have been working
at Cisco since last August. Its baptism by fire! When I started working
at Cisco I decided then and there that this certification was mine. What
I needed was a new approach. My last two attempts I had failed not
because of a lack of knowledge, but because I didn't get what they were
asking for or I didn't give them *EXACTLY* what they asked. I finally
broke down and purchased a workbook and decided to get some training.
With my IPExpert workbook in hand I sat down and started going over each
section. At the end I would look and compare my answers to what they
had. Each line was analysed to see why they used the commands they did.
For me, the workbook made the difference. Yes there were errors, but
being able to find those and even better, be able to tell you WHY they
were wrong is what told me that I was ready. I know that Wayne is
updating the material now and that those books will be even better.
They really do make the difference...
What I'm trying to say is DONT EVER GIVE UP. It took me 5 times to get
it, but nowhere on my number does it mention how many times I took it to
pass, only that I passed! Its also more than knowing the material. You
need to read the question and analyse every word. When I was going back
over the test to review I found words that would alter something I did.
If I hadn't done that I wouldn't have passed. And finally BUG THE CRAP
out of the proctor. Its what he is there for.
I seeked clarification or definition at least 15 times. I wasn't going
to fail because I didn't understand what they were asking for.
Last but not least I want to thank my loving wife and my now 7 month old
daughter for showing the patience to let me get this out of my system. I
promise to no longer be "the man that lives in the basement".
Larry Roberts CCIE 16084
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon May 01 2006 - 11:41:58 GMT-3