First CCIE Route and Switch Lab Attempt
Wow, time flies by. I finally passed the CCIE R&S 5.1 written in February of this year(2018). Since then I have continued to lab, read, watch VOD’s, and learn from the Router Gods. I have attended Narbiks boot camp which was fantastic. I will probably write another blog just on that later. I am currently attending Khawar’s Annual Boot camps which are also amazing. I noticed a week or so ago that there were only 3 more days to take the lab before February of next year (2019) and I wanted to get at least one attempt to fully experience the challenge of the lab exam. After Narbik’s boot camp I knew I was not 100% ready for it. I have a pretty solid base on the knowledge and now it is a matter of building up the speed and muscle memory. Along with coming up strategies on how to handle the lab. I believe this experience will give me the last bit of data I need before going into full-time labbing mode. This certification is no joke and difficult for most to understand the sacrifices one must make to pursue it. I’ve been working on this for about 2 years now and I feel I am around 6-12 months away from certifying. Next to passing Navy Nuclear Power School and Qualifying as a Nuclear Reactor Operator on the USS Maine SSBN-741, this will be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. I will probably do a Similar series to Tim McConnaughy on what I learned along the way and what I would recommend to others. Thank you, Tim, for putting that out there. It was very helpful to me. I would also recommend joining a group similar to Router Gods as a support group. I am so glad Tim brought Router Gods into my life and appreciate all the advice and wisdom that is shared by that group. I will blog again after I take the Lab and will try to do an entry on how I might have done things differently later on. Subscribe to my blog to follow along! Have a great day and thanks for taking the time to read this!