Re: CCIE R&S Discouraged

Unlike you fine gents, no wife, no kids ... hell I don't even have a dog
(thinking about one for Christmas if santa doesn't have me on his naughty
list). Some would say I have no life, and that's partially true (due to all
the hours in the lab), but I would have to mostly disagree because barley,
hops, pepperoni, and the 'opposite sex' play a crucial role in my nightly
life ;)

On a more serious note, I have to tip my hat to all you guys with families!
A co-worker of mine is married with 3 kids and a 4th on the way in Jan. and
he's at RTP at this very moment i'm typing on his first attempt. So I know
how hard it must be partitioning time for all things in life, but I look
forward receiving my 5 digits soon and then maybe I think about small
children and dogs.... any maybe commitment :)

max

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 11:02 AM, Steve Di Bias <sdibias_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey Marc mine is similar except I end up studying until 3 or 4:00am and my
> wife's pushing me out of bed to go to work at 7:00a!
>
> Studying for the CCIE really does take its toll on your life, especially
> when you are married and have kids, etc. One of the biggest challenges
> with the CCIE is that you have to balance your social life (e.g. kids &
> relationships) while still studying intensely. While some may argue you
> have to put your social life on hold, you don't, it's just a balancing
> mechanism.
>
> I have been doing the same routine for quite some time and it's worked for
> me so far. Basically (like Jay) when my wife and kids go to sleep around
> 9:00 I hit the labs until I'm too tired and go to sleep!
>
> For me this has been a long and winding road and I'm ready for it to be
> over. Judgement day is right around the corner....
>
> Happy Labbing!
>
> On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 6:49 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
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> -Steve Di Bias
>
>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Subscription information may be found at:
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Received on Thu Dec 08 2011 - 09:07:04 ART