From: Sean.Zimmerman@clubcorp.com
Date: Wed Mar 21 2007 - 00:05:03 ART
Well put.
I met one of those superhumans from Croatia during an IPExpert bootcamp. I
kept looking for his UFO or whatever, and I even asked him for his secret,
and he told me that there's no secret. Whatever. I'm fairly certain that I
saw a post on GS a few months ago that the guy passed on his first
attempt. He probably did the whole thing before lunch, and sat in boredom
for the last 4 hours.
From the sound of it, your 1.5 hours was spent on IGP's or Bridging and
Switching. I've realized that you can never spend that long on anything.
Configure static routes after the normal time allotment and go on. I'm
almost certain that I would've passed if I wouldn't have wasted so long on
a measly 4-5 point category. Because of that bad judgement call, I
couldn't complete the tasks that I'd become so familiar with towards the
end of the lab. I'm going to wear a stop watch next time.
I was shaking by the end of my lab because I knew I'd screwed myself. I
almost did Jim Carry's Liar Liar "kick my own butt" seen right near the
bench outside of the Lake building. Instead, I called my wife and told her
that I might pass. I was being overly optimistic and she knew it
immediately.
By the way, have they updated the clocks on their PC's? That's another
excuse that I have because I thought it was 10 when they stopped us for
lunch at 11. Up until that point, I was certain that I had it whipped and
that I'd become superhuman.
Sean
briapolo@wm.com
Sent by: nobody@groupstudy.com
03/19/2007 03:31 PM
Please respond to
briapolo@wm.com
To
ccielab@groupstudy.com
cc
Subject
On the behalf of mere mortals like myself...
Like many who have posted on GS, I came up short on my 1st attempt Friday
at RTP. Things looked promising at the beginning though. After one hour
into the lab, I had read twice through the lab, spotchecked the issues,
drawn all diagrams I would need and came to a startling realization there
was hardly anything unfamiliar blocking my path to the magic number.
Trying to contain my excitement, I began to score points. Shortly after,
I ran into a major issue, definitely not one of those "duct-tape and move
on". I had to resolve it to have a chance at passing. I will spare you
the painful details, but I wasted 1.5 hours to finally get this working
properly. This was devastating and by now I found my excitement being
rapidly erased by a feeling once experiences when running late for an
important appointment - realizing it is mathematically impossible to make
it there on time. To make the long story short, I punched and kicked
quite well in round 2 and 3, but the heavy hemo!
rrhaging I sustained in round 1 left me incapable to secure enough points
in the remaining time to win the fight. So sad...
Groupstudy archives contain encouraging replies of those who failed at one
time yet pressed on to claim the prize - I do not seek those at this time,
though I do appreciate the kind intent as well as time spent. This time, I
would like to solicit advice from the alien species living among us who
manage to mysteriously finish up the lab before lunch or so (we know who
some of you are and that your stories are true, not legends or myths). How
Does a Mere Mortal Get to Be Even Just a Little Bit Like You? I know what
it will take for me and scores of others to get the number - SPEED (not
the mind-altering substance). I have read a considerable amount of the
nebulous "to get faster you need to get better" posts (i do not mean to
offend anyone). What are some of the techniques do you, superior forms of
life, use to get there?
I have studied for about 10 months, am armed to teeth with worn-out Cisco
Books, DOC CD (which I navigate faster than the corporate network), two
workbooks (pretty sure do not need more), approximately 600 hours of
personal lab time, attended a bootcamp, completed numerous vendor labs,
set up even more of my own scenarios to gain understanding and speed. My
biggest issue - most of the time, after carefully dissecting a particular
technology, getting it to work, making notes, after 2 -3 weeks (when I
have moved on to other problems) I find myself rusty with the technology I
felt so comfortable 2 -3 week earlier. I am too painfully familiar with
this scenario from my own studies - to forget is human. At the same time,
someone finishes the lab by lunch...
Can those who have passed share what got your faster (or better, whatever
you want to call it) and put your over the top? Specific
examples/strategies would be wonderful. I really think there are many
(including myself) studying for the lab who cannot quite work out how to
be faster at OSPF or how to be faster at Layer 2. How does one jump from
doing the lab in 8 hours to finishing in 4 - that is a significant leap
that seems indeed superhuman to those of us unable to defeat the exam. How
can a mere mortal jump from being able to configure networks to making
them appear in front of your eyes in a matter of minutes/seconds (that is
with verification)? My post is not that of desperation (possibly more of
frustration of not being able to squeeze more out of myself). Those that
pass after 4 hours are doing something different from what I am doing. For
instance, there are guys at my work working on their CCNPs. I had to pass
it once and know there are longer roads and short!
er roads (not shortcuts) to get somewhere. For the most part, I have had
to take many longer roads only to discover that there is a shorter, less
traveled road. As someone said, "the secret of walking on water is
knowing where stepping stones are." Your thoughtful comments will be
appreciated.
A less intelligent form of life,
Homo sapien, no CCIE #.
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