From: Kenneth Wygand (KWygand@customonline.com)
Date: Thu Jul 29 2004 - 15:50:38 GMT-3
I passed yesterday in RTP with #13720!
Well, here is my story, and what a journey!
My first computer was a Commodore 128, which I used to play games and program some applications in Basic. I started professionally working as a computer technician in 1993 and did so until 1998 having never touched a networked PC (other than installing network card drivers).
In 1998 I started working on a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science I accepted a position in a local computer store focusing on small peer-to-peer LANs, usually running Windows 95 and Windows 98. Having worked as a computer technician for 6 years, I decided to take the CompTIA A+ exam. I passed both parts (Hardware and Software) on April 6, 2000.
Wanting to break into Cisco (thinking that someday *I* might be able to attain the CCIE!) but having no experience, I figured CompTIA's Network+ exam was the next logical progression. I took and passed this exam on June 30, 2000. I then took about 6 months to learn all networking basics and passed the CCNA on January 26, 2001. Starting in March, I took each of the CCNP exams within about 3 weeks of each other, completing the certification in May 2001. I also received my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science in May 2001.
Not having the experience or time necessary to start working on the CCIE, I decided to follow the design track, passing both the CCDA and CCDP in June 2001, one 6 days after the other. I then decided to try something in the Microsoft arena, and passed one of the MCP exams (Windows 98 at the time) 18 days later. I also felt it would be a good idea to demonstrate some Novell experience as well, and passed the CNA two weeks after that.
I then took a few months out of the books. February of 2002, I accepted a System Engineer position at Custom Computer Specialists which is where I am currently working. In early 2002, I purchased a full rack of 2500's, an ISDN simulator, a bunch of T/R Switches and Cat 5K. Of course, just after I purchased the equipment, Cisco retired all the T/R equipment from their testing base. After making some costly lab equipment changes, I started studying for the CCIE written at that time and passed the qualification exam on June 6, 2002. This is where I began training for the CCIE R&S Lab as follows:
June 2002 - Started studying the CCBootCamp labs from Network Learning Inc.
August 2002 - Decided to take three weeks off of CCIE studies to take (and pass) the ISC2's CISSP security certification (www.isc2.org).
October 2002 - Took a 1-week bootcamp with Skyline Computer. I found out I completely wasn't ready for a bootcamp, so I learned a lot of the basics but not nearly all a bootcamp is intended to offer.
January 2003 - Took a 1-week bootcamp with CyscoExpert with Bahram Chaboki and Brian McGahan (Brian is currently at InternetworkExpert). I learned an incredible amount of information through this bootcamp, but in retrospect I really wasn't ready to learn all of the things these two extremely knowledgeable guys had to offer.
March 2003 - Passed exams required for IP Telephony Design certification.
July 14, 2003 - Failed my first attempt. I felt confident but knew I missed a few things. I didn't realize each section was "all or nothing" so I lost a lot of points because I put emphasis in the wrong areas. My biggest mistake was not knowing the documentation CD well enough, so I didn't know where to go for support. After this failure, my second mistake was not sticking with the studies after failing. Frustration set in and I took a few months liaison from CCIE studies, starting up again in October 2003. This was a mistake, because from October 2003 until January or February 2004, I spent all my time having to re-learn all the stuff I already knew. This left me about two to three months left to fully prepare for my next attempt.
April 26, 2004 - Failed my second attempt. I felt much better about this attempt but knew I still missed a few points here and there. In fact, as time went on I kept counting points I missed. Sure enough, I didn't get enough. It was at this time it seemed just so easy to give up to get my life back. I requested a re-grade which came back with no change in score. However, in the time off between the request for a re-grade and the time when the result came back, I had time to calm down and realize one thing:
"Failure only occurs at the point when you stop trying." Failure was not an option. Since April 2004, every single free moment in the day or night was spent in the books and on the rack, probably a total of 500-700 hours of studies in the 3 months since that attempt.
May 2004 - Went a little crazy and overpurchased study materials (IPExpert's Lab Workbook, Solution's Guide, Proctor's Guide and Student Handbook, InternetworkExpert's Lab Workbook and Solution's Guide, and NetMasterClass's Lab Workbook and Solution's Guide). Needless to say, I had enough time to complete about two labs in each workbook!
June 2004 - Decided I wanted to take a virtual (via the Internet) bootcamp as final preparation. I researched both IPExpert (Scott Morris as instructor) and InternetworkExpert (Brian Dennis and Brian McGahan as instructors). Before I could make any decisions between the two, IPExpert was selected because of the two remaining week-long offerings by InternetworkExpert, one was full and the other one conflicted with my work schedule. So while I cannot comment on InternetworkExpert's bootcamp, Scott's bootcamp was very good. It helped me pinpoint certain topics I was having trouble with and allowed me to ask Scott direct questions that confused me. Based on feedback I've received from other people, I think either bootcamp would've given me just what I was looking for.
June - July 2004 - Studied studied studied studied studied... every single day...
July 28, 2004 - Passed in RTP with #13720.
Now that I have my number, I certainly won't be leaving the GroupStudy family. This is not a destination, rather another milestone in the journey. I'm always willing to help anyone else out in any way I can. I've met a lot of friends along the way and I can't wait to share in their success when their post hits the GroupStudy boards... :)
It's all about the journey... make the most of it!
Kenneth E. Wygand
Systems Engineer, Project Services
CCIE #13720, CISSP #37102, ACSP, Cisco IPT Design Specialist, MCP, CNA, A+
Custom Computer Specialists, Inc.
"Failure only occurs at the point when you stop trying."
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