Re: The story of CCIE#34420

That is awesome! People like yourself who do this with a family to take
care of really humble me.

This should really inspire a lot of people out there. The persistence
really paid off!

Congratulations!

-Yuri
On Feb 1, 2012 9:25 AM, "Michael Kiefer" <mjkiefer_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> I passed at RTP on Monday 1/30, after Cisco won 7 previous battles. I
> started studying for the CCIE in July of 2008 (V3 was the test until
> 10/09). I didn't really take studying seriously until enrolled in Narbik's
> first bootcamp in Wilmington, DE (my current town). It simply wasn't
> possible for me to take a bootcamp elsewhere because my wife worked (and
> was pregnant) and my daughter was 3 at the time. Her hands were very full!
> I am eternally grateful for my wife's patience. She is a rockstar!! I would
> have divorced myself long ago!
>
> I started with INE's product line first using dynamips and then moving up
> to the real hardware. I was and still am a hard core Linux user. I had
> about 6 years of experience as sysadmin on production boxes. INE's products
> are great, but I was growing more and more frustrated with dynamips.
>
> I started with a clean slate the summer of 2010 with a new INE topology
> based lab on real hardware
>
> Narbik taught me to look at things in their absolute simplest form. My
> friend and mentor Dave Roehsler (CCIE#20502) did the same thing. Grab some
> markers, a white board and work it out. Narbik's topology and workbooks can
> almost be done entirely on Dynamips without any trouble, FB!!!
>
> I began sharpening the saw over and over again with Narbik's workbooks on
> Dynamips. Any chance I got, I used them.
>
> I found myself knowing the material, but failing the tests. The last
> failure was 9/9/11 by one or two troubleshooting tickets. Revenge for that
> failure would be cold and merciless! No comfort to the enemy, just pain,
> death, and destruction!
>
> The time between the two tests was nothing but speed building and
> reviewing. Brian McGahan's new ATC v4.5 was out and it was great for
> keeping the cobwebs out of my mind. I could burn through an INE Vol II TS
> section in 40 minutes or less by the week before the lab. The Vol II config
> labs were toast in 4 hours.
>
> I managed to complete and pass the TS section with 30 minutes left in the
> real lab. The config part was done with more than 2 hours left.
>
> All of my studies were self funded. In fact, I even left a full time
> position with a local Gold partner who wanted my CCIE#, but didn't want to
> fund my studies. I landed a very lucrative long term contract that provided
> the resources to make it all happen.
>
> I put some video clips out on my Youtube channel: mjk2374. I don't have
> much content, but there are some good clips from RTP and a rack tour from
> my basement. The proctor, David Blair, gave me permission to shoot the
> video inside the lab.
>
> It was an honor and privilege to sign the wall of pain next to David
> Roehsler's. Narbik's entry is there as well as a few other interesting
> things like a husband and wife duo. It looks like Howard's son put Sponge
> Bob on the bottom, too. I saw Brian McGahan's, but unfortunately didn't
> capture it on video.
>
> My best advice to CCIE candidates is pretty much what Narbik says,"You are
> ready when you can do the workbooks cover to cover with absolutely no
> questions." Don't overestimate your own ability(like I did). Make sure you
> are an expert when you walk through that door at Cisco. If you take the
> psychological aspects of the test out, they don't have a leg to stand on.
> Invest in yourself and absolutely never give up!
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> Michael Kiefer
> CCIE# 34420 (R&S)
>
>
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Received on Wed Feb 01 2012 - 10:35:40 ART