Re: OT: Pass November 18

Good write up, Steven. Congratulations! Way to stick with it!
 
PS- I am a
FIRM believer in anything that Narbik produces. To that point (and not to
insult Narbik), but anything AFTER CCBOOTCAMP materials would be considered
excellent as their material is terrible!
 
PPS- INE, IPExpert, and Narbik
(Micronics Training) are all great vendors (just to clarify). Cisco 360
graded assessments are an excellent measure of your skills and time
management.
 
Enjoy your spot at the top of the mountain you just climbed!
Regards,
Jay McMickle- CCNP, CCSP, CCDP, MCSE
http://mycciepursuit.wordpress.com/

Support me in the MS150 Challenge!
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/TXHBikeEvents?px=5886043&pg=pe
rsonal&fr_id=17896

________________________________
From: Steven Blasiol
<steven.blasiol_at_gmail.com>
To: Cisco certification <ccielab_at_groupstudy.com>
Sent: Friday, December 2, 2011 4:18 PM
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