Re: PASSED R&S (with kids!)

Good job mate, good on you. Congrates, What's NEXT?

On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 1:22 PM, 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 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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> >
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-- 
*Narbik Kocharians
*CCSI#30832, CCIE# 12410 (R&S, SP, Security)
www.MicronicsTraining.com <http://www.micronicstraining.com/>
Sr. Technical Instructor
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