From: Hewie (whewetson@gmail.com)
Date: Sat May 12 2007 - 09:27:01 ART
Still quite exhausted from the whole exercise, some things that helped or
didn't ;
- I had some major problems sleeping the night before, not a good way to
start the day, a couple of minutes into the lab I was over it, my adrenalin
was flowing and I could hear my heart beating in my ears, must have been the
ear plugs (highly recommended) J
- I was revising the night before, not recommended because the few minutes
sleep I had were filled with some serious 'unsolvable' redistribution
issues.
- don't trust the hotel's TV's time, especially if you are moving between
time zones, I was at Cisco's offices at 5:30am thinking that it was 7:00am
- I was glad I took my own highlighters; there was only one colour
highlighter and a few colour pencils in the lab , definitely contributed to
me feeling more comfortable, I became used to working with a few colours to
represent the different routing protocols.small things
- I took about 45 minutes to read the entire lab and create my diagrams
(layer2 and 3), listening to everyone else typing away is torture (even with
ear plugs)
- I made a list of each task with comments if it required a second look or
additional research on CCD, this proved to be the most valuable tip that I
have learned on Groupstudy, thanks.
- when going over the questions and my configurations I spotted so many
silly little mistakes that would of cost me the lab, go over your work, this
is a must, even if you are 100% sure!
- eating lunch was an experience, mouth was so dry, I found it hard swallow.
It is a must to eat something to fuel the brain and keep well hydrated
during the exam. Dehydration can seriously impair your concentration levels.
- I broke a golden rule by making a big last minute change and didn't have
time to verify. This lead to a ton of anxiety, no sleep for another night!
- I asked the proctor to clarify anything that I was unsure about (about 10
times). I used the "my interpretation of this question is such and such
because of this, this and this." line. The proctor in Dubai (Yusuf) was
extremely professional and approachable.
- try to keep the 'bring it on' attitude throughout your studies, I
sometimes found it difficult to stay positive throughout my preparations,
juggling family and work commitmentsespecially in the summer months and
holidays, ouch!
- If you can, build you own rack. I assembled my own rack with 2 x 3750's
and 8 routers (2500, 3640's and 2801's) kept it at the office and accessed
it remotely. I found this to very adequate to practice 95% of the material;
I mainly used the older 2 switch labs (IE & NMC) and rented rack time for a
few weeks to practice some more challenging 4 switch labs.
Thanks again to Paul Borghese* *and all at Groupstudy, and best of luck
Wayne
On 5/12/07, Rob McDonald <robmexpert@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Congratulations!!!! we are getting close to 18000 or there might already
> be one :)
>
> Best wishes,
>
>
> On 5/12/07, Hewie <whewetson@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I passed on my first attempt on the 10th in Dubai; found the lab to be
> > tough
> > but fair. I invested a lot of time and passion into the last 18 months
> > and
> > will be the first to admit that it wasn't always clear sailing with some
> > serious highs and lows. I would like to thank my wife for her unwavering
> > support, the Brian's and Bruce Caslow for their great products and all
> > the
> > members of Groupstudy for their valuable contribution to 'the journey'.
> > For
> > my preparation I used NMC DOiT and all of the IE products, COD was
> > fantastic, pricey but well worth it (found the Brian's had a great sense
> > of
> > humor in V3J). I know that these guys are running a business but they
> > definitely give way more than what's required and their passion rubs off
> > on
> > you.
> >
> > To Benjamin, all the best for the upcoming Security lab.
> >
> > * "**If people spent more time preparing and figuring out how things
> > REALLY
> > worked instead of focusing on "what's the right answer here?", then we'd
> > see
> > the pass rate increase quite a bit. But learning isn't a motivation for
> > most
> > people, money is." **Scott Morris***
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Wayne Hewetson
> >
> > #17903
> >
> > _______________________________________________________________________
> > Subscription information may be found at:
> > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
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