Re: PASSED R&S (with kids!)

Well done mate! You forgot to tell us the magic number :-)

--
Marko Milivojevic - CCIE #18427
Senior Technical Instructor - IPexpert
FREE CCIE training: http://bit.ly/vLecture
Mailto: markom_at_ipexpert.com
Telephone: +1.810.326.1444
Web: http://www.ipexpert.com/
On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 16:16, Muzammil Malick <malickmuz_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey Everyone
>
> Apologies in advance for the essay!!!
>
> I cant believe my journey is finally over. I took the R&S lab
> yesterday and found out today that I passed.
> CCIE should come with a warning "CCIE study is hazardous to your life
> if you have a wife and kids"
>
> My journey began in January 2009 when i began preparing for my
> written, my study was based purely on
> reading lots of books and making lots of notes. I used the Cisco Press
> R&S Certification Guide and TCP/IP Vol 1 and 2.
> At the time of studying I was working away from home and so I had lots
> of free time to study whilst my wife took care of my 2 year
> old son and I would visit them on the weekends.
> I passed the written mid 2009 and it was around the time when v4
> blueprint was announced. So I decided to book myself a date
> for the v4 exam and work aggressively towards it. I took the first day
> that v4 was introduced in Brussels.
>
> Now from here on in I would just like to say that what I did was
> probably not something you would want to follow if you are preparing.
> It was a learning experience for me!!
>
> I began by studying the Doc CD in detail! I worked through all the
> blueprint sections and read lots of RFCs, books, blogs, Internet and
> made sure
> I knew all the commands for all technologies relevant to the blueprint
> and understood how they worked.
> This included 3 hours every evening, and entire weekends labbing all
> the technologies using the DOC CD as a guide. I made notes on all
> these commands
> and technologies.
> I did this for 6 months all the way to my lab date in October.
> My first attempt was an eye opener. I had OEQs which I failed but
> kicked myself later. My troubleshooting was miserable and my config
> was even worse.
> Overall I came out of the exam and decided that I could definitely
> pass but I had a lot more work to do.
>
> This is where the problems started. I had found a flat near work and
> my wife and son moved in with me and my wife was expecting in November
> 2009.
> I knew it would be tough to take the lab again in this period and so I
> was forced to take a break. My second son was born on December 1st and
> I did not start
> studying again till February so I had a fair few months out of the game.
>
> Now I will say that between the time I took my next B attempt and
> yesterday's I have taken a "few" attempts. I wont go into them but
> what I will say is that my study pattern changed
> drastically throughout the year and I think it is this change that
> enabled me to pass.
>
> When I started studying again I focussed my attention on INE Vol 1 and
> made sure I knew the technologies inside out. This reinforced the
> notes that I had taken in my first 6 months of
> studying and taught me loads. It also helped me fill in a lot of gaps
> I had. I still kept my focus around the DOC CD and at no point did I
> ever do a full 8 hour lab at home.
> I focussed my attention on mini scenarios making sure I understood the
> technologies and command inside out.
>
> During my last couple of attempts I came to understand one important
> thing and it was a post that Narbik made on GS that nailed this down
> for me.
> Cisco don't want you to do ninja tasks! There were a few questions
> that cropped up on my attempts that I still do not know the answer to,
> to this day. However I know that if you know
> the fundamentals, these cannot stop you from passing.
> From my failed attempts I learned that I didn't understand the basics
> well enough, and I could not implement them at speed.
> So in the last couple of months I trimmed my study down to doing very
> simple labs and making sure I could do all the "simple" things fast.
> This year was like torture for me. I had to spend loads of time away
> from my wife, son and new born baby. My wife has endured endless
> nights looking after them both whilst I locked myself away to study.
>
> Thank you Darling!!
>
> There were times where I seriously just wanted to pack it all in and
> call it a day and just accept that it wasn't meant to be but I have
> amazing friends and and amazing family (wife!!) who kept me going!
>
> I arrived in Brussels (from UK) the night before my exam and stayed at
> the NH Hotel. Didn't sleep very well due to feeling a little ill and
> got up feeling a bit crap! The lab started on time and to my shock I
> spent 20 minutes
> on the 2nd trouble ticket. I could not for the life of me figure it
> out! But as soon as it clicked I was well on my way. I still managed
> to finish with 15 minutes to spare after having checked everything. I
> solved all tickets.
> I moved on to config which generally went well. There were a few tasks
> where I just did not know the answer to but I knew that I could get
> the majority of points elsewhere so I went after them at speed.
> I read the questions down to the "word" to make sure I was doing them
> correctly. I ended up using the full 8 hours because one of my routers
> played up during the middle of the exam. Had to reload a couple of
> times
> but it sorted itself out eventually! (was a bit of a nightmare but I
> guess it can happen). Went home feeling less than confident because I
> didn't get as much time as I would have wanted to check everything
> over because of
> the router problem. I was driving home from airport and convinced
> myself that I had failed! Got home 11pm and results weren't posted,
> checked at 4am today and there it was, a PASS!
> I couldn't believe it and kept refreshing and closing down browser and
> restarting until I was finally sure and I woke my family and told
> them!
>
> I just want to say a special thank you to all the following, some of
> who dont even know me but unknowingly have helped me through a reply
> to my postings, past posting, blog or God knows what:
>
> Marko, Scott M, Narbik, Carlos Mendioroz, Tyson S, Brian M, Brian D,
> Kambiz, Bob Sinclair, Paul Negron, Anthony Sequeira, Gary Baker, and
> just a general thank you to everyone on the list!
>
> Thank you
>
> Muzammil Malick
>
>
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