Re: PASSED R&S (with kids!)

Haha so much excitement,

27703 !!

On 10 December 2010 21:22, Marko Milivojevic <markom_at_ipexpert.com> wrote:
> 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 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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Received on Fri Dec 10 2010 - 21:26:33 ART