Re: My story- CCIE #35355

Thanks, Steve. It was great being lab partners with you and Marc Abel. He's
now using my home rack that I loaned you! ;) We need to pray for him next
week as he finals his approach!
 
For those reading this- I highly suggest
getting one or two people and lab with them. We use to hold our own Webex
sessions and run through technology based and mock labs together over a
conference call, with just the 3 of us. It gave me a chance to remove "pride
and fear", and open my mouth to ask (what felt like) those stupid questions!
Network while you network!

Happy labbing!

Regards,
Jay McMickle- CCIE #35355
 

From: Steve Di Bias <sdibias_at_gmail.com>
To: Jay McMickle
<jay.mcmickle_at_yahoo.com>
Cc: Group Study <ccielab_at_groupstudy.com>
Sent:
Thursday, May 10, 2012 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: My story- CCIE #35355

Congrats
Jay, all of your hard work and determination paid off. Well done.
On a side
note I would like to state that Jay is one of the nicest guys you'll ever
meet, and if it wasn't for YOU I wouldn't have my number. Thanks for
everything my friend and I'm forever in your debt.
Anything you need just let
me know.
Cheers mate.

Steve Di Bias
CCIE #32840

On Tue, May 8, 2012 at 8:42
PM, Jay McMickle <jay.mcmickle_at_yahoo.com> wrote:

Thanks:
>I thank God.B This
has been a dream of mine for 6 years, and he
>solely helped me attain this! I
donb t want to start a religion roll as we
>are all from different parts of
the word and have different religious
>backgrounds.B However, give God a year
of your faith and belief and see if
>things donb t change!
>Secondly, my wife
and family for dealing with me.B
>Itb s been a constant 2 years of knowing
that I need to get home and lab.B I
>thank those that have helped me on the
forums, and especially Narbik.B He
>gave me a personal relationship through
my training, and even hung out with us
>until the wee morning hours during
bootcamps to chat with us about anything
>and everything.B He really does
care and it shows in his work.B Finally, I
>thank my employer.B Without
their support, I would have had to quit my job to
>get this accomplished in 2
years.
>
>Materials used:
>Global Knowledge CIERS1
>bootcamp
>CCBootcamp MPLS
for CCIE candidates (taken at Cisco LIVE)
>INE (video
>only)
>IPExpert Blended
Learning Solution (Vol1 and 3 only, video on demand,
>audio on demand)
>CCBootcamp ALM bootcamp
>Narbik CIERS1 (attended twice)
>bootcamp, Advanced
workbook, bootcamp 4.0 workbook
>B
>Hardware used:
>I was
>using
2800/3800/3560b s hardware cabled for each vendor.
>B
>Products that
>didnb t
work:
>CCBootcamp workbooks- I attended a CCB in September 2011.B The
>instructor (Rahim) was great and very knowledgeable.B I attended a bootcamp,
>but quickly cancelled on day 2 due to the workbooks alone.B There were so
>many typos, that even the instructor had to work through the workbooks to
find
>that it mentions the wrong routers as part of the restrictions.B This
made me
>start to doubt myself- not a good way to learn!B Ib m sure the owner
will
>come after me again for this posting, however, he did not follow up on
his
>promise to rectify the situation (by receiving a beta version of the new
>workbooks) and Ib m advising students away from your products as I said I
>would.B I have a few more examples of the bad business practices, but I will
>spare you those details.B WORST WORKBOOKS EVER!
>B
>Dates:
>- April 30,
2010-
>Passed CCIE R&S Written
>B
>- May 3, 2010- Global Knowledge Bootcamp,
CIERS1
>(San Jose, California)
>B
>- July 2010- Passed CCIE Security written
(Free test
>at Cisco LIVE)
>B
>- July 2010-Dec. 2011
>I was averaging 15 hours
a week of
>rack time over 4-5 days a week.B
>B
>- June 2011
>I attended
Narbikb s CIERS1
>bootcamp.B WHOA.B Thatb s a lot to take in, but amazing
training.B The man
>is a walking IOS dictionary and can rattle off 7 levels
deep of IOS
>commands.B I learned his theory (not verbatim) that if you need
a sh run or
>to use a b ?b , you arenb t ready for the lab.B I carried this
with me
>throughout my studies after that.B Narbik taught me to look at the
>requirement or question, think about what technology is at hand, and if itb s
>a global, or interface command before starting in on a solution.B Great
>advice!
>B
>- Nov, 2011
>I attended Narbikb s CIERS1 bootcamp for the second
>time. I was better prepared and did much better on my assessment labs.B I
>felt close to ready, but Narbik informed me that I wasnb t ready.B Yet, I
>still had to make my attempt at the Lab to qualify for the Lab Safe program.
>B
>- Dec. 13, 2011
>My first attempt at the CCIE R&S lab.B I got a 50% (avg)
>on the config section, and an 18% on troubleshooting.B I didnb t expect to
>pass, but I was forced (so to speak) to take the lab by the end of the year
to
>qualify for the b Lab Safeb program (free second attempt).
>
>- Dec. 15-
2011
>Kicked my labbing into high gear, and focused on the technologies I
didnb t
>know well.B These were mainly IP Services.
>B
>- Dec. 20, 2011-March
20, 2012
>Stepped up my lab times to 25 hours a week.B My method was this-
Run through
>IPX VOL1 for the technologies I saw that I didnb t know well.B
 This was
>about 12 topics.B Run through IPX VOL3 Mock labs very slowly.B In
fact, I
>sometimes took 16-20 hours for a Mock lab because I was looking them
up on the
>DOCCD, and playing with different options to actually break the
solution and
>finding a second solution as an alternative.B This was a key
building block
>for me.B I want through Narbikb s Adv. workbooks and Bootcamp
4.0
>workbooks.B I especially liked Narbikb s workbooks for the reason for
the
>solution.B If I didnb t know something in-depth, Narbikb s workbooks
were
>my direct solution.B All of the vendors workbooks were still weak in IP
>Services, especially EEM an OER.B I know that Narbik, and Ib m sure the
>other vendors will as well, have updates to their workbooks as this has been
>mentioned time and time again.B I believe Brain with INE has
> committed to
releasing something soon.
>B
>- March 20-April 30, 2012
>Kicked my
>labbing
into high gear.B My job allowed me to work from home, so I was
>averaging 30
hours a week (7 days a week) without any days off from labbing.B
>Those last 5
weeks were rough!B I was staying up late at night, drinking
>Monster energy
drinks, and chasing them with Red Bull energy drinks!B Up
>until
midnight/1am, and getting up at 6am, taking my girls to school, going to
>the
gym, and then heading back to the house to lab/work.B The last week
>before
my lab, I actually took a week of vacation and turned off my email and
>didnb
t answer my work phone except at breaks.
>B
>- May 1, 2012
>Passed CCIE
>R&S
Lab in San Jose!B Although they say to stop labbing and relax your mind,
>I
don't work like that.B I labbed until midnight the night before the lab in
>my hotel, and labbed for an hour that morning.B This is partially becuase my
>mind was conditioned to do that (lab late), and I wanted my mind alert and
>fingers ready that morning for the lab.B I didn't feel it was proper to show
>up and not have the mentality for the wording of the lab.B *NOTE* You could
>have cut the tension with a knife in the waiting area prior to the lab at
>Cisco's San Jose's office.B I couldn't help but crack jokes!B Probably my
>way of dealing with nervous situations.B Also, it took 10 hours for my email
>that I passed!B AHHHHH!B Why was it that when I failed I knew in 2 hours?B
>Needless to say, I got zero sleep that night!
>
>*My tips to success*
>When
you
>lab up, take your time to learn a technology.B When you learn it, go to
a
>different vendor and work their technology based labs.B Go through them,
fix
>it, and break it.B Get fancy with it and find another way to do it
(because
>there is always another way and you might get a restriction that
will throw
>you for a loop).
>B
>Preferred vendors (there is no single
vendor), and why-
>Narbik-Workbooks are in different degrees of difficulty,
they build upon each
>other, and have a VERY detailed explaination to learn
from.B After paying for
>his bootcamp and attending, you can re-take the
bootcamps if seats are
>available for free.B With the amount of information
delivered, I highly
>recommend taking it at least twice!
>B
>IPExpert- VERY
hard, right out of the
>box!B But, their BLS has videob s that help
understand how, but not why.B
>Itb s up to you to learn the technology prior
to working their labs.B The
>VOD is a b death by slideshowb that didnb t
help me at all.B I did
>thoroughly enjoy their video on demand.B I have a
lengthy drive to work each
>day, and these came in handy to some extent.B
 But, once I found myself solid
>on a technology, and I was done with Narbikb
s workbooks, this is where I
>went.B This is for the advanced student that
feels they are ready, but in my
>opinion, not a learning tool.
>B
>INE- Their
all access pass is great, and
>offers you discounted rates on their CCIE
workbooks.B Their videob s are
>REALLY good.B For a lot of candidates, INE
is a good choice as their hardware
>is 1800/2600 model routers and less of a
financial impact.
>B
>Cisco 360- I
>donb t care for the workbooks, but their
assessment labs are good to get a
>feel of the lab interface, and gives you an
idea via a score of where you
>are.B If you can score high on these labs, you
will do good on the labs.B
>But, I saw technologies on the lab that I did not
get tested on within the
>Assessment labs.
>B
>I hope this helps you.B Now,
onto CCIE Security!B
>Re-cabling my racks now for IPExpert and Narbik's
layouts.B ;)B
>B
>God
>Bless.
>
>Regards,
>Jay McMickle-B CCIE #35355
>
>
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-- 
Thank you,
Steve Di Bias
CCIE #32840
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net