7/30/2019 CCIE Story
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Passed First Attempt CCIE 34578
Passed CCIE RS Lab in my First Attempt at RTP, NC on February 7.
CCIE NO.34578!!!
So here is my story! I started preparing for Lab in April, 2011.
That's when i bought INE Workbooks bundle. The way i prepared wasi
started with Vol 1 and had aplan that i have to focus on each CORE
topic for 1 week or 2 weeks depending onits complexity (but it
always expanded or shrank). In the beginning i used to do labs
every night for 6-8 hours and over 10-12 hours during the weekend.
Once iwas done uptil Multicast section of Vol 1 i felt like i
should go back and revise all the Core topics that i so far did and
see how much i remember and see howmy mind support me. Well i
revised everything in 2 weeks with same amount of hours each night
and some free hours at work. After that i Moved on but did the
remaining Core topics like IPv6, MPLS and then started Non-Core
topics. I was alsousing CISCO DOC for my Non-core stuff. But for i
used DOC very less. while i was almost over with my Vol 1 i did
some tasks/labs from Narbik Workbook but i didnot focus on it as i
only did that to see if i can do that using my Knowledge and skills
that were developing after doing Vol 1. By the time i was done with
Vol 1 it was 2-4 months of time interval. After that i started
doing Vol 2 Full labs, well my speed was very slow and trying to
bind all the tasks together to seeeverything as a complete network
and see if one is dependent on other task. Wel
l it was a very slow start. after couple of Labs i gained some
speed and confidence and i was also able to see where i was making
mistakes. While i was doing Vol 2 labs i also started doing Vol 3
labs to gain speed and make Core Technologies my 2nd nature so i
should think less and my fingers should start typing. and also by
just looking at the logical topology i should be able to say where
can problems be with redistribution, or see if i should worry about
my Multicast to sync with Unicast routing table and etc. After i
did 10 Labs from Vol 2 i re did them to check what i have gained so
far, and it was amazing how my speed grew andconfidence with
accuracy. Over the weekends i used to do complete Labs like doa TS
lab from VOl 2 TS and then Config Lab from Vol 2. and some time mix
TS withVol 3 Lab. Then i continued with Vol 3 finished it and did
Vol 2 labs till Lab16. Then started doing some revision for Vol 1,
Vol 2 and Vol 3. Then in Nov i took my First Mock Lab and scored if
i remember correctly 86. Then took another o
ne in same Monthy Mock Lab 2 scored 87. I was hoping 97 but
grading was incorrect. That was the time i was the most ready. In
december i just revised stuff readbooks, Lab it up, CISCO DOC,
worked on week topics like EEM and OER. i was getting staurated and
tired of doing it when my interset was fading away and
startedputting less time in.
Then in January i had a INE Bootcamp in Seattle with Brian
Dennis, O Man let metell its worth every second of it. If you guys
think you know IGP well try BrianDennis i am sure you will come to
know what IGP really is. He gave us lot of great Tips for Lab, how
to approach it and get your number. Let me tell you he hasa great
sense of humor i miss those days. We had 10-11 hours of class each
dayfor 2-weeks. While doing Bootcamp over the weekend i did Mock
Lab 3 scored 81. Again grading was incorrect as i discussed my Lab
with Brian Dennis and he agrred
. ALso took Mock Lab 4 next day and it was the toughest of them
all and scored 76. Again Grading was incorrect as discussed with
Brian Dennis. my score should have been around 87 or 90. Well after
that bootcamp i was very confident and feeling ready.
After that bootcamp i had 2 weeks to revise or cover anything
missing. each daymy lab date came close and i was getting nervous
and feeling that lab pressure each day. i was feeling like i have
forgotten everything. But finally that day came when i flew to RTP,
NC.
7/30/2019 CCIE Story
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Well i woke up at 5 am. got ready and had very little breakfast
and went outsideof my hotel at 6:10 am. and reached Building 3 by
6:30am. i sat in car for 15 min and went to lobby at 6:50am. and
every candidate was there waiting for Proctor to show up. and then
it was 7:05am and proctor came out from inside and calledour name
and checked our IDs and escorted us to the Lab and gave
instructions.to be honest Proctor was very straight forward and
looked evil to me in the morning. so i putted my stuff in the
lockers there hit the bathroom before startng.at 7:20am we started
the lab. i had the plan in my mind for TS i.e to read the Tickets
as soon as i read a ticket that i feel like i can do it in 5 min
just doit and save time and always look for basic faults injected.
thats what i did atleast for first 2 tickets. i did first 2 tickets
in 10 mins and when i hit the 3rd one i dont know what happened to
me but i was losing my mind and felt like i will fail and got stuck
on it for 15-20- mins and believe me when you are in there pressure
can kill you and your time. then suddenelly i relised that i have
tomove on, well when i moved on i did next 5 tickets in 30 mins.
well my confidence was back. then i rehited that same ticket that
struck me before and got it done in 6 mins. then i had 2 tickets
and almost 45-50mins left. Well i took my timeand did those and
finished TS section 20 min early. i was very relaxed at thatpoint.
then i started the config section immeditely. i was feeling like i
was alab in home and not even worry about anything any more. I drew
my diagrams, readthe whole lab, saw dependencies and made some
notes for need to be accomplished. when it took me 20-30 mins for
that. it was worth it. i was done with my config section in about 2
hours and 10 mins. also took 10 mins of lunch break in between.
well when i was doning my config section proctor came to me and
said slowly
you did a great job in TS section i gave him a smile and got
very relaxed! after i was done with my config section i verified
every task with restrictions in mind and it took me 50mins. at 1:30
pm i ended my session and went to proctor andtold him i am done.
well he said you still have more than 2 hours i cannot letyou go
that early (he was thinking i did not do my config section
completly) andhe was surprised and said me to go back and wait and
re verify but i told him that i already ended my session. then he
told me to sit in break room and wait for me. and then after 10
mins he came to me with long face first and tried to scare me when
he finally said slowly you PASSED!!! and congratulated me. But said
wait for offiicial email by tonight. and made me sign that Wall of
Fame for CCIEsin RTP Lab.After that i was so relaxed so happy and i
was feeling like new!
Let me tell you Dreams do come true, you just need to have
vision, believe in yourself and work hard for it with sincerity.
Like Brian Dennis said to us " You have to put that time in in
order to become a CCIE either do it know or after your lab
attempt(s), but i can assure you that you will put that time in for
studying and hardwork. So better do it now than later"
THanks for reading,
Tahir
