Re: CCIE#35347

Congrats. Nice job.

On Tue, May 8, 2012 at 9:18 PM, Marko Milivojevic <markom_at_ipexpert.com>wrote:

> Nice work - well done! Hard work always pays off. :-)
>
> --
> Marko Milivojevic - CCIE #18427 (SP R&S)
> Senior CCIE Instructor - IPexpert
>
> On Tue, May 8, 2012 at 8:02 AM, Terry Vinson <wantmydigits_at_gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > *Hello Everyone,*
> >
> > *I passed the CCIE R&S lab on May 1, 2012 at RTP, NC.*
> >
> > *I ve tried to write my success story about a hundred times since I got
> my
> > pass notification for the Routing and Switching track. Each attempt,
> > however, has sounded more angry than happy, which is odd because I am
> > ecstatic to have passed. Not having to study anymore and having decided
> to
> > take a week off from everything but family has given me a lot of time to
> > reflect on why I get so upset when I think about the last five years. I
> > made the realization last night that my anger stems from feeling like I
> > wasted a lot of time, and went up a lot of blind alleys during my
> > preparation. I need to put things in perspective before I explain that
> any
> > further. I am 45 years old. I have four sons ranging in ages from 5 to
> 22,
> > I am a self-employed consultant, and in the current economy we have been
> > struggling just to get by. So in a nutshell my preparation came out of my
> > own pocket and I spent way more than I should have to get where I am. I
> > bought materials, in the last three years, from virtually every major
> > vendor I can think of, to include Cisco 360.*
> >
> > *I found out about Narbik Kocharians on GroupStudy.com and contacted him
> > and let him know that I was very dissatisfied with the first CCIE vendor
> I
> > chose to use due a B customers helping customers B approach for guidance
> and
> > support with the package. Narbik was very understanding and explained to
> me
> > that he thought I had large gaps in my foundational theory. He told me
> that
> > we could fix that together. I bought his workbook and set out to fix the
> > problem. I was livid at how much I didn t know after a year and a half of
> > using the first vendor. I flooded Narbik with my frustration and again he
> > just let me vent and then said we can fix that too. He told me that he
> was
> > going to have a bootcamp in Columbia, Maryland starting on Monday; this
> was
> > Sunday and he said I could come if I wanted to. I did want to, but we
> > didn t have the money to pay for a hotel. So I slept in my truck for a
> week
> > in an arctic sleeping bag because it was winter. That sucked, but
> honestly
> > I had slept in way worse conditions when I was a soldier. It was worth
> > every second of it. I learned more in 5 days than I had in the previous
> > year. The sad part was that my lab was scheduled for 15 days after the
> > bootcamp and Narbik told me straight up I wasn t ready for it. That was a
> > tough pill to swallow, but he was right. I didn t even come close to
> > passing, but like Narbik said, B you know what to expect now! *
> >
> > *So the next year was all about filling gaps in my knowledge, reading
> books
> > and labs using Narbik s workbooks. In the next two years, I took Narbik s
> > bootcamp again twice (at no cost and received updates for all the
> workbooks
> > B again at no cost). At the end of the last bootcamp, Narbik told me that
> > he thought I was borderline ready, but I needed more lab work (I was too
> > slow). I didn t know how to answer that because I had done every lab he
> had
> > to offer half a dozen times. So ignoring his advice I again scheduled a
> > lab. I failed again but I was so much closer. But I found another
> weakness
> > that I hadn t really considered. My test taking strategy was virtually
> > nonexistent; I was working and thinking too linear. That was when I met
> > Anthony Sequiera.*
> >
> > *Anthony was not what I was expecting from a CCIE instructor, he was
> > frequently talking about other things than just technology. He was
> bringing
> > up things that affected my performance on the lab that I had honestly
> never
> > even considered. We exchanged emails and he made me a promise. B I ll
> help
> > you get your CCIE no matter what the circumstances are or who I m working
> > for. Anthony was able to open a lot of opportunities for me to learn and
> > practice and was constantly offering support and advice. But at this
> point
> > I was B gun shy B of the exam. I was so afraid of failing again I wasn t
> > willing to test. It took a long time for Anthony to help me break down
> > those barriers. But eventually we did and I scheduled the exam, this time
> > it was the Version 4 exam. Anthony and I where both focused on the TS
> > section, because frankly it seemed to be what most people were failing,
> and
> > the fact that there were no real tools available to students to help them
> > deal with this new lab requirement was adding to my apprehension. So
> rather
> > than just take a wild swing we got together with the great minds over at
> > IPexpert, who I should point out Narbik had recommended I use for my B
> mock
> > lab practice. Anthony and I created a tool that made sense and held up to
> > the troubleshooting labs I had from all vendors B the Quick Fire
> > Troubleshooting Strategy. We spent countless hours discussing it, tearing
> > it apart, and testing it against whatever mock troubleshooting materials
> we
> > could find.*
> >
> > *Quick Fire centers around a common issues methodology combined with
> > intense time management. In our opinion, the biggest problem in the
> > training space at that time was that everyone talked about
> troubleshooting
> > and even discussed how to approach troubleshooting, but nothing dealt
> with
> > the biggest issue, which is the two-hour time limit. After getting
> > comfortable using the Quick Fire Troubleshooting Strategy, we decided
> that
> > I should schedule a lab. The good news was that the troubleshooting plan
> > worked AWESOME! I knew I had 8 out of 10 tickets and was unsure about
> one,
> > the other I did not have a clue if I solved it B correctly B or not. The
> > outcome was not what I was hoping for, because I did not pass the
> > configuration section, but Quick Fire held up perfectly. What would have
> > been another blow to my ego, was actually an opportunity to retest the
> > troubleshooting strategy Anthony and I developed. So I scheduled another
> > lab; what would be my second attempt at the Version 4 with
> troubleshooting.*
> >
> > *During the next 30 days I didn t even really focus on the lab, but every
> > so often I would do an IPexpert Volume 3 lab just to keep my speed from
> > deteriorating. Come test time I was way more relaxed, had more even more
> > faith in Quick Fire. I even adapted some of the methodology from the
> > troubleshooting process to the configuration section of the test. In the
> > end it all culminated in passing the lab and getting my digits. That s
> the
> > long and short of it.*
> >
> > *In my opinion it all boils down to the fact that the CCIE exam has
> > changed, it s no longer, B answer all the core questions and pick up a
> few
> > of the services and management tasks and you are golden . In my opinion,
> > that test doesn t exist anymore. The new test is a broad range of topics
> > that all have relatively the same weight, the concept of the core and
> > fundamental reachability is there but it s no longer 70 to 75 percent of
> > passing. Cisco has upped the ante in terms of the significance of these
> > B miscellaneous B topics, and to tell students that they are not going to
> > expect you to be an expert on them is an out-and-out travesty.*
> >
> > *It was a long expensive journey to get to the point where I had all the
> > tools I needed to pass and honestly, we had to invent a few along the way
> > as a result of the exam changing and maturing. Technological proficiency
> > was pivotal, but having a well-considered and practiced strategy was just
> > as important. That concept of strategy extends not just to the actual lab
> > but also to the act of preparing for the lab. I came late in my
> preparation
> > to IPexpert on the advice of both Narbik and Anthony, and I found just
> what
> > I needed there. They had an honest, structured approach that addressed
> all
> > phases of the CCIE learning process to include tools like Marko s
> wonderful
> > audio bootcamp that was one of best knowledge sustainment tools I ve had
> > the pleasure to use. But for me, the workbooks were the most impressive
> > offering because by the time I found IPexpert, that was what I was
> looking
> > for. I wanted, no I needed, multiprotocol labs that where reflective of
> > what I d had come to expect to see on the exam after my failed attempts.
> > Their workbooks were concise, well planned and the closest I ve seen to
> the
> > actual exam with regard to the wording and structure of the individual
> > tasks. The integration between workbooks was seamless. It wasn t a series
> > of workbooks created, in a handful of weeks, by different developers with
> > no clear transition. As I worked through these books I could feel my
> > confidence and general understanding growing, and that process continued
> > until the CCIE was just a fundamental part of that transition.*
> >
> > *It is important to understand that everyone learns differently and at
> > different rates. But the one constant is that learning needs to be
> > deliberate, and that is so much easier when the actual course instruction
> > is deliberate by design. Furthermore, you need to find vendors like
> > IPexpert and Micronics Training that are willing to devote themselves to
> > your success.*
> >
> > *I am very proud to say that I am now employed writing elegant, yet
> > practical and accessible texts and classes for IPexpert in the area of
> CCIE
> > R&S. I hope I have the opportunity to provide assistance to some of you
> > reading this, just as I received the assistance that I so desperately
> > needed.*
> >
> > *For those thinking about giving up. Don't do it! The elation of success
> > will completely erase the grief you felt when you didn't pass. It felt
> bad
> > to fail but absolutely incredible to pass!*
> >
> >
> > Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> >
> > _______________________________________________________________________
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> > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
>
>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
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Received on Tue May 08 2012 - 23:01:49 ART