Re: Journey to a 21 Year Old CCIE

This is so incredibly awesome!

It was such an honor to be involved in this process.

Warmest Regards,

Anthony J. Sequeira, CCIE #15626
http://www.INE.com

Test your Core Knowledge today!
Q: What general strategy should you follow for the classification and
marking location in your network?
A: Marking should be done as close to the source as possible.
More Info: http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=101170&seqNum=2

On Aug 20, 2009, at 1:10 AM, Zeeshan Sanaullah wrote:

> Hey All !
>
> Just Received my Report, I cannot tell you how happy I am. I have been
> dreaming of becoming a CCIE since I was 15. Now at 21 I have finally
> passed
> the CCIE R&S Lab Exam.
>
> My
> Journey Started when I got my old 386 computer. I was quite young at
> that time but I as really fascinated by the little machine. In few
> years it was upgraded to Windows 95. I used to corrupt and fix
> everything on my own. In Grade Seven during school holidays I joined
> a local institute nearby my home for Web and Graphics Designing. My
> Teacher was preparing for MCSE and I used to ask him about what it was
> all about and then I finally decided to join the Networking field.
>
> So
> at the age of 15 I passed the CCNA Exam, it was really difficult one
> for me at that time. Just after clearing I went ahead and joined CCNP
> Training. I passed BSCI and BCMSN and had to stop because my high
> school studies were being affected. After completing school I got job
> at a Cisco Premier Partner. I still work here as Network Engineer
> working on R&S and Security Projects. Back in December 2007, I
> completed CCNP along with few other certifications from Cisco and
> Juniper.
>
> Immediately I Started my preparations for CCIE. I
> passed the Written Exam but it took a lot of time around 8 months
> during which I was working on a major project. So I finally decided
> that it was now time to get my hands dirty. I scheduled the Lab but
> after every week I had to extend it because of Job load and other
> responsibilities.
>
> A turning point in my preparations was when
> I received the Scholarship from Internetwork Expert. I really jumped
> out of my seat when I received the email saying I have been selected
> as
> the Sole International Recipient. Since then there was no stopping and
> I booked the seat at Aug 18 2009.
>
> During the last month I had
> enormous distractions but I focused on my strategy. The Exam day has
> finally arrived and I was very afraid of the 4 Stupid questions that
> can cost you $1400.
>
> So we started of with the Core Knowledge.
> The first one was really easy but the rest were confusing and I spent
> the whole 30 mins. I sticked to the first thoughts as many CCIEs told
> me that overthinking can cause you to fail.
>
> Lab Portion was not as difficult as I was expecting, my time
> management was
> not good I spent too much time on 2 Tasks
> one
> of them was very easy but my mind was not the working at its best.
> After 40 mins of thinking and trying different solutions I got one
> task
> done but I moved forward and left the other. I had complete
> reachability before proctor called for Lunch. After Lunch time I
> completed other tasks verified reachability. On whole I left two tasks
> and instead of working on them I re-checked every thing and found a
> couple of mistakes which could have cost me. After the Exam I knew I
> had great chance of passing the Lab, the only thing that was troubling
> me was the Core Knowledge Questions.
>
>
> Thanks to ALLAH in
> helping me achieving this journey and many others who have helped me
> including my employer, manger, colleagues and my family.
>
> As far
> as my Exam Strategy is concerned I used CCIE 2.0 Program by
> Internetwork Expert. Advance Technologies Class, Open Lecture Series
> and Volume I Workbook were the main products. I focused on individual
> technologies and did very few Full Scale Labs and never completed even
> a single of them because of various issues , power outages being the
> main cause. I would highly recommend the CCIE 2.0 Program to
> candidates
> and specially the Volume I Workbook and the Open Lecture Series. Both
> of them are my favorites and I still plan to use the OLS, it a great
> tool. For those who dont know about it its just an ongoing version of
> Advance Technologies Class. Each week Brain Mcgahan conducts two 1
> hour
> each class and cover various technologies on the CCIE Blueprint. I
> would love to see it released for CCIE Security as well.
>
> Thank
> you Internetworkexpert , you guys have been a crucial part of my
> success specially Kady and Brain and I look forward to choose you for
> the Next Track which I have yet to decide , per my job role CCIE
> Security looks the best and I have heard that the new exam is very
> difficult and only 1 guy has passed since the Blueprint changed so I
> would love to tackle this beast. CCIE Service Provider also looks very
> promising and for the next 2-3 years because of IPv6 and MPLS its
> worth
> will increase.
>
> By the way Cisco should introduce 21 Year CCIE Logo for Me , Brain ,
> Rick and
> few others ... what do you guys say ;)
>
> Thank you all
>
> Muhammad Zeeshan Sanaullah
> CCIE # 25196
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Show them the way! Add maps and directions to your party invites.
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/products/events.aspx
>
>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Subscription information may be found at:
> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html

Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
Received on Sun Aug 23 2009 - 06:28:43 ART