Re: CCIE R&S Discouraged

Good luck Jay

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 8:02 AM, Jay McMickle <jay.mcmickle_at_yahoo.com> wrote:

> I wait for my family to go to bed (around 9pm), and I pop a Red Bull. A
> little music with headphones lightly playing with chewing gum does the
> trick. I punched through a lab last night, looked up, and it was 1am!
>
> My kids (5 and 1) know what I'm going for and want me to succeed as well
> as my wife. They know when they sleep or nap, I'm in my home lab. It's also
> taken me 18months for my first attempt, but I watched my kids grow while I
> did, too.
>
> It's all about the balance, baby. Gaining a CCIE cert while loosing the
> family along the way= no bueno.
>
> I know there's many guys, including Narbik, that feel the same. Hurrying
> through this and pausing life is NOT what this is about. You aren't just
> studying, you are growing and expanding your knowledge. It's like a Masters
> degree, done online, at night/lunch/weekend kids naps. ;)
>
> Happy labbing, gents!
>
> Regards,
> Jay McMickle- CCNP,CCSP,CCDP
> Sent from my iPhone
> http://mycciepursuit.wordpress.com
>
>
> On Dec 7, 2011, at 8:49 AM, marc edwards <renorider_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > My alarm goes off at 4 am and my wife is pushing me out of bed to study.
> > Aside from me, nobody wants to this to be over more than her :) . I tell
> > people that are interested that it will be a life changer from the start.
> > Constant study and finding a zen balance with it all. For me, it comes
> down
> > to what I do during my alone time. Most want to decompress and watch TV,
> > sports, or some sort of recreation. Sad to say that the
> > lab examination will eat up all this free time.
> >
> > I have been watching how much time I spend on social networks and blog as
> > well. Even exam relavant stuff, it just seems to slow me down taking time
> > to articulate... It is a good practice though.
> >
> > Even responding to threads like this. If I spend 4 minutes writing this
> > email, that was 4 minutes I could have been working through a problem or
> > watching instruction. I can imagine that is why commentary has talked
> about
> > beating the dead horse.
> >
> > While I think it is off topic, motivations are relavant to the pursuit.
> Are
> > you doing it to show others? Are you doing it for career only? Are you
> > doing it for yourself due to a burning motivation?
> >
> > Some of those answers will get you up at any hour of the night having
> free
> > time to continue to learn. Some of those answers will keep you pushing
> even
> > after failure. Others might make you sleep in and give up on the first
> try.
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 6:22 AM, Joe Astorino <joeastorino1982_at_gmail.com
> >wrote:
> >
> >> Well, I'm not a family / marital counselor or psychologist so this is
> >> probably worth what you pay for it -- Why not try and prioritize your
> life
> >> and make the CCIE a large part of your time on paper and on purpose? I
> >> first started my track in July 2008 and I got married in May, 2008.
> >> Needless to say, some discussions had to be had with the new wife about
> >> time priorities and why I was doing that and why it meant so much to me
> and
> >> why I needed her support in doing it.
> >>
> >> Maybe it would be possible to talk to your wife and work out some sort
> of
> >> scheduling to where you have your certain days and hours for just
> studying
> >> ALONE in the basement, but you also make time for x, y, and z in your
> >> life. Maybe you could speak to your boss about getting some time to
> >> advance your skillset and obtaining the CCIE but explain that you would
> >> appeciate some time to work on that career goal.
> >>
> >> Ultimately, at least in my life it helps to have things being done on
> >> purpose and to a certain "plan" or I get bogged down.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 5:01 PM, Guillermo Ruiz <gruizesteban_at_gmail.com
> >>> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Joe,
> >>>
> >>> When I start studying the CCIE track (almost 3 years ago) the only
> >>> reason of doing that was for personal knowledge. I've spent lot of
> >>> money building my home lab (over 25 devices...till I discovered GNS3)
> >>> and taking CCIE bootcamps. My frustration is not about those that are
> >>> cheating..I'm frustrated about the limited time I have to study
> >>> (always overloaded at work + family & marital tasks). I don't even
> >>> know if some day I will take the lab exam, earn those wonderful digits
> >>> and tattoo the old CCIE logo in my leg , but the only thing that keeps
> >>> me enthusiastic is all the network challenges I face everyday.
> >>>
> >>> Keep the track, there is no better feeling than solving problems and
> >>> carrying with all that stuff that nobody wants. This is what keeps me
> >>> "young", and it's wonderful to learn everyday new things.
> >>>
> >>> And in the worst case you will end like me, with a 10-months child
> >>> that recognizes Cisco logo...and cries when he hears Juniper. LoL!
> >>>
> >>> Regards
> >>>
> >>> Guillermo Ruiz
> >>>
> >>> 2011/12/3, Joe Sanchez <marco207p_at_gmail.com>:
> >>>> All,
> >>>>
> >>>> I wanted to send a quick email out to all of you to get your take, and
> >> to
> >>>> hopefully give me some words of wisdom.
> >>>>
> >>>> I recently took my CCIE R&S Lab exam at RTP on Nov 9, 2011; I failed
> >> and
> >>>> I'm ok with that, I knew going into the exam that I was not 100%
> >> however
> >>> I
> >>>> scheduled the lab months prior, set my goals and tried to reach them
> >>> before
> >>>> taking the lab. I fell behind on a few of the goals that I set prior
> >> to
> >>>> taking the exam, but I felt I needed to go ahead and take the lab and
> >> get
> >>>> the butterflies and overall anxiety out of my system.
> >>>>
> >>>> I know what I need to do, so that my next attempt at the lab is
> >>> successful,
> >>>> and I'm working on those now.
> >>>>
> >>>> So here is the part were my discouragement comes into play and really
> >> my
> >>>> overall mindset to stop studying for this exam and move on with my
> >> life,
> >>> as
> >>>> we all know that studying for the CCIE takes away your life for a
> >> while.
> >>>> I've been studying for the CCIE off and on for almost 2yrs, and there
> >>> have
> >>>> been a few breaks in my studies as I have family and work obligations
> >>> like
> >>>> most of you all, "i digress".
> >>>>
> >>>> I came back from RTP and I had a few questions on my lab that I
> >>> absolutely
> >>>> had no freakin clue, so I set out looking through the CCO Doc CD and
> >>> trying
> >>>> to figure out the answers to the questions and I read every page on
> >> this
> >>>> particular subject however, I couldn't find solutions the lab wanted.
> >>> So I
> >>>> set out in the world of google and began using search strings to find
> >> my
> >>>> answer, and what do you know I found several scenarios from people
> that
> >>>> were pretty close, so I modified my search string and began my
> >>>> seek-and-find again. After searching for a few minutes more for my
> >>> answer,
> >>>> up pops a website URL in Chinese that redirects me to a website that
> >> has
> >>> a
> >>>> document in adobe web viewer so I think lets read this and see what I
> >>>> find. I begin to read the document and see that it is a lab and as I
> >>>> scroll down I begin to see the network topology and physical and
> >> logical
> >>>> layout and the beginning general guideline requirements and I say to
> >>> myself
> >>>> "wow, this is very familiar" as I continue reading I again say " this
> >> is
> >>>> way to close" and as I scroll down I see a topology that looks exactly
> >>> like
> >>>> the topology I had on my Lab, so I stop... dig out my notebook, "they
> >>> one I
> >>>> drew my LAB topology in, at the airport after my LAB exam" and I say
> >>> "What
> >>>> the hell" this topology is 100% exact to my LAB in RTP and not only
> >> that
> >>>> but 100% ip addressing, vlan names and numbers, IGP AS numbers, BGP AS
> >>>> numbers, "yes" i continued to read and yes everything, again
> everything
> >>> was
> >>>> 100% my LAB " I found the answer to my question". So I stopped...
> >> stared
> >>>> at the wall for hmmm... a long time then said "Why" Why do I nearly
> >> kill
> >>>> myself studying trying to get these digits when people are out there
> >>>> cheating, but not only cheating but killing the reputation of a Expert
> >>>> community because they feel that if they get the Digits they can make
> >>> more
> >>>> money than what they deserve. So I went home, because I don't study
> at
> >>>> home as this is distraction most of them, and I asked myself the
> entire
> >>>> ride home to whether or not a should continue.
> >>>>
> >>>> So I suppose my Question is to the whole community here is "should we
> >>> even
> >>>> continue", I've spent thousands or dollars getting equipment,
> labbooks,
> >>>> video's not to mention the hours, but what is the point if people are
> >>>> cheating and Employers know that people are cheating, and I've seen
> >> this
> >>>> over the last few years that some CCIE's don't have a clue.
> >>>>
> >>>> I'm frustrated, p'd off, and discouraged.
> >>>>
> >>>> I await your thoughts and reply's.
> >>>>
> >>>> Please do not email me or request that I give you the website or name
> >> of
> >>>> the company that is supplying the exact labs, as I will make you
> >> publicly
> >>>> known for asking in this email group and forums. Really it's not
> worth
> >>> it.
> >>>>
> >>>> Joe Sanchez (Chicago, IL)
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> >>>>
> >>>>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> >>>> Subscription information may be found at:
> >>>> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________________________________
> >>> Subscription information may be found at:
> >>> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >> Joe Astorino
> >> CCIE #24347
> >> Blog: http://astorinonetworks.com
> >>
> >> "He not busy being born is busy dying" - Dylan
> >>
> >>
> >> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________________________________
> >> Subscription information may be found at:
> >> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
> >
> >
> > Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> >
> > _______________________________________________________________________
> > Subscription information may be found at:
> > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html

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Received on Wed Dec 07 2011 - 08:19:41 ART