RE: Pass November 18

Congrats Steven!

thanks,
Brad Ellis
CCIE#5796 (R&S / Security)
CCSI# 30482
CEO / President
CCBOOTCAMP - Cisco Premier Partner Offering Certification Training
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-----Original Message-----
From: nobody_at_groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody_at_groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Steven Blasiol
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2011 2:18 PM
To: Cisco certification
Subject: OT: Pass November 18

2 weeks ago on November 18 I passed my CCIE RS at RTP. I wanted to
write something about my journey and thank the people who have helped me
along the way. I began studying in January of 2010. During that time I
read the CCIE Study Guide (Odom et al), TCP/IP Vol 1 and 2 as well as
the Cisco Documentation Guides and Internet Routing Architectures
(Halabi). All the while I was labbing to see these technologies at
work.

In August of 2010 I passed my written and I was feeling really good. I
thought the lab would be a walk in the park and all I needed to do was
get some more time in labbing. How naove? That same month I attended
the CCBOOTCAMP CIERS 1 course. I learned a great deal from the course
and really hammered home many of the concepts that I had been struggling
with. I returned home and began doing the CCBOOTCAMP material.

After finishing with CCBOOTCAMPs material I purchased Micronics
Advanced Routing and Switching workbooks. I loved these books I must
have gone through each volume 4 times front to back and doing other
sections over and over. This material really lends itself well to GNS3
and allows you to really hone in on a very specific topic.

In January of 2011 I made my first attempt. I did not expect to pass
and I didnt. I came home and continued through the CCBOOTCAMP,
Micronics and IPExpert material (IPExpert is another excellent
resource). I also signed up for the INE All-Access-Pass and went
through the Videos-on-Demand. I think that the monthly INE pass is a
must for CCIE Candidates. The INE Blog was also a huge go-to when I
was having problems with a particular technology.

In June I sat the lab againfailbut getting better. In August I
attended the Netmasters CIERS 2 course taught by Bruce Caslow. This
was an excellent course; a very challenging but excellent course. I
also began attending the Live Online Group Mentoring provided by
Netmasters. If you cant make it to a Netmasters course you should at
least get into the LOGM sessions.
I spent between August and the end of September doing all of the Cisco
360 graded labs. I did several of them multiple times. I would study
during the week, take an exam on the weekend and study the exam the next
weekrinse and repeat. At the end of September I sat the lab
againfailed, but I knew I was in striking distance. The next month and
a half are a blur. I averaged more hours those months than any time
since I had begun. I spent a lot of time on Advanced Services and
Troubleshooting (this is where I was hurting). I was also traveling for
work which made things even more difficult.
The final count on study hours is: 1479 (with additional time spent
reading)

Then November 18th came and I got my number 31895.

Thanks to all of the people who have assisted me over the last 2 years
(nearly). Especially all of the vendors, the developers of GNS3 (I
can't imagine what it was like before GNS3), the administrators of Group
Study, my friend Ernest McCaleb who motivated me and was ALWAYS
available to answer questions (even stupid ones), my co-worker Christian
Hunter who is going through this right now and helped me fill in many
gaps, and everyone else along the way. Also a special thank you to my
wife who has endured a less than ideal life for too long. It is funny
to think about, but when I got my CCNA I thought I was brilliant, when I
got my CCNP I thought I was untouchable and now that I have my CCIE I
feel very humbled.

--
Steven M. Blasiol
--Confidence is stain they can't wipe off...-Lil Wayne
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net