Rick Mur - 21 Year Old Double CCIE

itdaddy

it just pisses us all off that we didnt think of this at 17 or so hahaa
darn right amazing..focus focus focus..
notice he doesnt have little certs linux+/a+/sec+ etc..
he just hammered out the big boys
mcse ccnp ccip ccie makes sense to me he never wasted his time
he just focussed and used his resources and sacrificed a lot and bam
there you are!
TOP OF THE HEEP

Highspade

itdaddy wrote: »

it just pisses us all off that we didnt think of this at 17 or so hahaa
darn right amazing..focus focus focus..
notice he doesnt have little certs linux+/a+/sec+ etc..
he just hammered out the big boys
mcse ccnp ccip ccie makes sense to me he never wasted his time
he just focussed and used his resources and sacrificed a lot and bam
there you are!
TOP OF THE HEEP

The little certs are used to land that first job (for the most part). He had the family business.

JavonR

Highspade wrote: »

The little certs are used to land that first job (for the most part). He had the family business.

I think this really is debatable... While sure an A+ or any comptia cert helps with getting your foot in the door, your soft skills are really what will do it I managed to bypass getting any of them and landed a job, although I guess the local job market is different from place to place. My opinion is to jump straight to the good stuff.

GAngel

cleanwithit wrote: »

Man, I just turned 21, and just now getting my MCSA; I take my 291 in a couple of weeks. I feel like a slacker, lol. Hopefully, I will have my CCNA by the end of the year.

This def. is inspiring, and motivating.

There is nothing to be worried about. The point of exams is to display knowledge gained through experience. In a few years you'll have a cert list a mile long if you really wanted. The best advice anybody could ever tell you is find a job you like. That will be all the motivation you need to go out and learn.

itdaddy

I was not knocking small certs...I guess it is different worlds if you really look at it....here in USA you have to have the smaller certs because there are so many applying for jobs. also you have to have a college degree again to weed out so many applicants...where as in Europe maybe you dont have many CCIEs just sitting around...and I am sure you said the family business helped..I mean he must have had some serious lab equipment. I am almost postive that any one of us could do what he did if we had the right time, place, drive, equipment, and opportunity...

but really in this world I wouldnt put it past this guy to be a 6 or 7 CCIE when he is 30..in our world you just see more and more crazy things to piss a the average guy off (average meaning the working guy with wife kids and responsibility) success I mean fast success is for the young.

Just look at highschools they are teaching MCSE and CCNA stuff and college the same the bar keeps being raised. I mean a youg person right out of highschool and college has more certs than any one of us. They are practically CCNP out of 2 year college any more...or even highschool for the love of pete!

But it is interesting to hear about this.....
I am positive there will be greater achievements on the horizon! Like 6 year old graduates from Harvad and as a CCIE something like that is next!
It is coming! just to piss us off hahaha hahahahah ahahah

thenjduke

Kam,
I also read his blog in detail and I really have to say he dedicated himself. I just like the idea I got to live my life through college and enjoy what college had to offer
Earl

Kaminsky wrote: »

Not directed at you JockVSJock but just a response to the negative turn this thread seems to have taken. So don’t take “you” to mean you personally.

We are not all made equal and we each have to do what we can with the opportunities and abilities we have at the time. It’s natural to read about successes like this and compare them to your own success and then, if you find yourself falling short of someone else's mark, feel disappointed at yourself like you should have done a lot better. You could just as easily beat yourself up about not being a shuttle pilot, a brain surgeon, a political leader, being born into a wealthy family, being a sports superstar or being studious and diligent long term to have racks and racks of certs very early on in life in this guys case.

These are all negative feelings and become just extra pressure you are putting on yourself that actually slow you down unnecessarily. There are plenty of others in life that will criticise you without you yourself becoming one of them. What chance would you have if you do that. Much easier to avoid the self negativity, say well done at someone else’s success and carry on focussing on what you are doing well with the opportunities and abilities you have. Maybe take a little inspiration from it. You’ll have a much happier life for it.

I’ve read a bit of this guy’s blog and he didn’t come across to me as cocky or know it all. He has just started his life by hitting the ground running whereas the vast majority of school leavers just wander around at the start wondering what the hell to do next. I imagine that a great deal of this guys initial success is down to his parents support and pointing him in the right direction for his interests. I hope to be there to encourage my kids when they reach that age… if they don’t think they know better and still want my help when the time comes and are willing to take advice. I know I certainly wasn’t one of those unfortunately but we all make our own choices.

thenjduke

itdaddy wrote: »

it just pisses us all off that we didnt think of this at 17 or so hahaa
darn right amazing..focus focus focus..
notice he doesnt have little certs linux+/a+/sec+ etc..
he just hammered out the big boys
mcse ccnp ccip ccie makes sense to me he never wasted his time
he just focussed and used his resources and sacrificed a lot and bam
there you are!
TOP OF THE HEEP

LOL Certs were meaningless when I started in the field. There really was not a big deal of Microsoft or Cisco.

Mishra

He is better than me at the cert and household dedication game!

Not hard to admit someone is more dedicated than me. Or smarter than me. I currently love my life, and always strive to better myself and it works great.

I could wish I had millions like Bill Gates... or could be a great investor like Warren Buffett. But in the end the amount of dedication I put into myself currently works great. Hopefully it will continue to pay off in the future.

Cheers for everyone on this forum for putting any amount of dedication into bettering yourself in any way. It's a skill that not many know of or practice.

Great job Rick!

daveccna

Well done that man.

For my part when I think about the time and talent wasted by my cruddy state school it enrages me and when I think about the lack of guidance from my family I'm disappointed.

I trained as a scientist because I was told to 'study something I enjoyed and was good at' but I found few opportunities that were worth a decent amount. I read above that there was a teacher among you... I went into teaching a while back in order to do something about the appalling system we have. I encountered alot of resistance from the elders who seem to view education as an opportunity for social engineering and little else.

So I come to IT, yet another technical field, very late in the day. If this story inspires me to anything it's continued discipline and to provide decent parenting of the sort this young man enjoyed. Private schooling wouldnt go amiss either.

So be inspired people and take these sorts of things as a message to rededicate yourselves.

mikedisd2

I wonder if some HR goons would still knock him back just because he doesn't have a degree.

nel

very impressive indeed. He should be very proud no doubt. hopefully many of us can follow in his footsteps.

I still wouldnt swap all the certs in the world for my party days ..Good Good times ! ha

ToddB

I need to think of something to use as my excuse!!!!

God just grants some folks with special skills look at shawn white, now thats impressive.

j_a_s_o_n

A snippet from his blog

The downside of all the things you are doing and all the thousands of hours you spend on it, is that people could become jealous. It’s also something I experienced. Suddenly I was ‘selfish’ and ‘arrogant’. People even start forum topics just to bash at you. It’s something you have to deal with I guess. I like it, since some of the replies actually make sense and people start defending you. That’s such a great example of what a fantastic community this is.

Particularly fitting considering some of the posts in this thread...

dadaji

And here, I can't even pass 70-290. This sucks.

hexem

I actually read CCIE blog's for inspiration, it helps motivate and keep me focused, knowing the kind of dedication and learning curve that it take's to get to the top keep's me going, reading about there failures as well, it's grounding, hey it's hard stuff, you can't just expect to pass everything first time or know everything, it's a never ending journey..hah pretty deep, anyway just keep at it, in the end you'll pass whatever it is you want.

AlexMR

mikedisd2 wrote: »

I wonder if some HR goons would still knock him back just because he doesn't have a degree.

If there is a company with an HHRR person who thinks he should knock him back for not having a degree, then that company doesnt deserve somebody like this kid in its team.

I am sure Rick could be admitted to the Harvard MBA if that is what he wants. I would bet and give excellent odds. This guy is plain amazing and my hat is off for him.

I think envy is overestimated in general, but this thread is kind of depressing. Some people cant deal with the truth. Truth that sometimes says there are people who are going to achieve more than you, because they are more dedicated, more talented. They have to explain and justify their mediocrity, and they generally do it by minimizing what great people with great achievements do. Shame on them. They will always be nobodies sadly.

This young guy story is simply inspiring. Hats off.

bcall64

Personally I am 24 years old and just getting started with the Cisco track. I have a job as a systems engineer (L2 Customer Support. I have no degree and no certifications. I got really lucky that someone knew I had the chops to do what I do.

I am thrilled to be going for certifications to better myself and for my career. I aspire to go for the CCIE one day but am taking it one part at a time.

Sure I wish I could have done what he had but I do have experience in a business environment as well as life experience. I think it's awesome what he did and my hat is off to him.

My goal is to be a CCIE by 30 and that would be incredible. +1 for him going after his dreams so quickly. To each his own.

twodogs62

I have known a few 18 year olds who are extremely bright.
Knew one who was a CNE by 16 and at 18 years old a company wanted to hire him for $70,000 per year and that was 15 years ago.
He was mature for his age. Had the business grooming and self-confidence.
He was also home-schooled. No college, etc.....
He had started working with computers at a company at age 16.
He also knew what girl he was going to marry, etc.....

Morty3

And I thought I was cool, taking my CCNA at 18. Hah, I got pwnd by this guy.