Re: Long Journeys

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ojo Oluwaseyi O. CCSI#33076

On 3/11/10, Marko Milivojevic <markom_at_ipexpert.com> wrote:
>
> Well done!
>
> --
> Marko Milivojevic - CCIE #18427
> Senior Technical Instructor - IPexpert
>
> Mailto: markom_at_ipexpert.com
> Telephone: +1.810.326.1444
> Fax: +1.810.454.0130
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>
>
> On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 06:24, <laidlaw_at_consecro.com> wrote:
> > I am going to apologize up front for this long story and thank everybody
> > who makes it to the end.
> >
> > Like many other on this forum, I have read many letters like this one.
> > For me, it seemed that sometimes the goals you set seem just outside your
>
> > grasp. B Slowly that goal becomes just a dream you had once. B For me,
>
> > taking a CCNA level class from then to-be CCIE Dave Genton got me hooked
>
> > on Cisco and networking in general, and the goal was a CCIE. B CCNA in
>
> > '99, CCNP in 2000 but soon family and life began to take hold and thing
>
> > didn't come so easily after that. B Like many others, failing the first
>
> > time, in '02, was an eye opening experience and I learned first hand just
>
> > how high the bar was set. B Later in '03, I half-heartedly tried to get
>
> > back into study mode but I failed to keep an eye on the calendar and
>
> > didn't drop my date before the old 30-day mandatory pay period. B At the
>
> > time, my wife and I were expecting our second child and some
>
> > complications forced me to forfeit my seat. B It was an expensive lesson
> > to say the least. B I lost all motivation as my goal seem farther away
> > then when I started (in addition to $1250 more expensive). B Paying for a
>
> > lab that I never got to take drained my motivation and I lost all desire
> > to continue.
> >
> > In '07 I got my first taste of MPLS and I was again hooked on new
>
> > technology. B With a group of very motivated coworkers, we all set off
> > down the service provider track. B I was fascinated by the technology and
> > I quickly re-found my motivation. B I passed the metro-ethernet written
>
> > right before Cisco consolidated the written exams and took my first
>
> > attempt at the SP lab 3 months later. B Although I thought I was ready,
> > the lab proved otherwise. B My only consolation was a 100% on the MPLS
> > section, which at the time didn't seem like much. B Work quickly took all
> > my available time and once again, policy got the best of me. B I knew you
>
> > had 18 months from the date you passed the written to attempt the lab,
> > but I didn't pay any attention to the fact that you must attempt the lab
>
> > again within 12 months. B Having only been 15 months since I passed the
> > written, my mind was somewhere else when it expired. B Again upset at
>
> > policy, I shelved my dream and went back to work.
> >
> > A 1200 mile move, 2 jobs and 2 years later, I found myself back in the
>
> > hunt. B Armed with addition preparation materials, courtesy of the
> > extremely generous Antonio Soares, I was back on my way. B After retaking
>
> > the written, 4 months of hard study, I was back in RTP taking the lab.
>
> > Things were going so smooth through the first couple of sections. B That
> > is when I should have known better. B I did my usual prep and read ahead
> > to identify land minds. B 45 minutes into the test and getting to the
>
> > PPPoE section, I noticed that the client-side config was already there.
> > Up to that point I was just configuring things so I hadn't noticed but I
> > knew there was no way any of the PPPoE stuff would be preconfigured and I
>
> > notified the proctor. B Looking back it was certainly worth a laugh, but
>
> > Howard informed me that the grader failed to reset my lab and I had
>
> > someone else configs on my rack. B The rack wasn't even setup for the
> > topology I had been given. B Howard, being the cool guy he is, kept a
>
> > smile on his face, started the reset procedure and let me sit and read
>
> > the lab while things restarted. B Now this by itself is highly unusual
> and
>
> > hopefully not something that most people get to experience, but it takes
>
> > close to 45 minutes for the rack to fully reload. B If you thought it was
>
> > tense doing the lab, imaging sitting in there with nothing to do but look
>
> > at your test booklet and listen to the clock tick by. B So Howard comes
> by
>
> > letting me know I can restart the test but all my work to that point was
> > gone because the restart obviously clears everything, so I have to
> > restart from the beginning.
> >
> > I gave it a good go. Howard let me work through lunch (not sure I would
> > have eaten anyway) and I skipped time consuming sections for the low
>
> > hanging fruit in a crazy race against time. B I came close to finishing
> > but knew it wasn't good enough. B A 3am score report email confirmed what
>
> > I already knew, another swing and a miss.
> >
> > Now my wife and kids have been really good sports to this point but 9
> > years and 3 attempts seemed like long enough and I was ready to give it
>
> > up for good. B After telling the crazy lab story to my wife and a few
>
> > coworkers, I finally had enough prodding to open a support case with
>
> > Cisco. B Several days later, unexpectedly, I received a voucher to retake
> > the test. B 2 very big projects took up most of the next 8 months and in
> > December I finally started looking for lab dates. B I was very surprised
>
> > that there was nothing for almost 6 months in any location and I began to
>
> > get very nervous. B My last lab was March 24th, my voucher would expire
> in
>
> > early April and with the 90 day window, I had only 8 days to find a lab
>
> > seat before I would be almost totally SOL. B On December 21st, with only
> 3
> > days left, a seat opened in RTP for March 9th. B Now looking back and
>
> > knowing what I know now, it must have been a scheduling glitch but that's
> > OK, I like glitches in my favor.
> >
> > Despite bad weather and delayed flights, I made it to RTP in one piece.
> > The morning started early because I suck at finding my way around RTP
> > despite the fact that I had almost spent enough time there to qualify as
>
> > a NC resident. B I arrived on-site at 7am and met the new RTP proctor,
>
> > Kelly (I am sorry if I got your name wrong, I was too focused on the lab
>
> > and I suck with names). B Due to the proctor change and the lab seats
>
> > being locked out (really glad the system glitched and let me schedule),
> > there was me and one other guy taking the lab that day and it was a
>
> > little different being almost by yourself. B I still started out by
> double
>
> > checking that there was nobody else's configs loaded and after a clean
>
> > bill of health, away I went. B I walked out knowing I gave it my best and
> > thankful nothing weird happened. B This was it though, win lose or draw,
>
> > the final attempt.
> >
> > I think the worst part of the test is between roughly 3:30 and when you
> > get your score. I had flown all the way home and had been driving for
>
> > about 10 minutes when the email came in. B I couldn't decide if it was
> > good or bad to get a score that soon. B I thought, "Did so bad it didn't
> > take long to fail, huh?". B I called my wife and had her deliver the bad
> > new. B CCIE #25959.
>
> >
> >
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> >
> > _______________________________________________________________________
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>
>
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>
> _______________________________________________________________________
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Received on Thu Mar 11 2010 - 21:19:02 ART