Passed ICND2!...
Well, I am glad I didn't reschedule, I manned up and took the exam earlier today. Back in January, I decided that my goal would be to have the CCENT by June, and CCNA by September. I'm also a full-time student so this would be along side my school studies. I knew it was going to be a lot of work but it would be worth it. I passed the ICND1 in April, and just passed the ICND2 today with a score of 888. I feel great after having accomplished my personal goals. As with the ICND1, I walked out of the testing facility feeling incredible, but I also have a feeling like I do not deserve it. lol I know I passed, but I don't feel like an expert. As with the ICND1, I found that everytime I learned something, it would open 10 more doors of things I didn't know. I guess that is a good thing and why I find networking so interesting.
Study materials:
Odom's Cisco Press certification guide
101 Labs for the CCNA Exam (kindle edition) - I can't say enough good things about this book. It was $9.99 on Amazon, and I have to say it was a great buy. Great labs that actually build upon concepts as you go. There is so much repetition with things, but that is the point. To pound it into your head. I used Packet Tracer with this since I don't have a hardware lab.
Cisco Packet Tracer - enough said. I'm in the Cisco Networking Academy through school.
Cisco Catalyst 2950 switch - I have one of these and used it for port security and basic setups. I couldn't do much with STP or anything. This was just fun to have and get some actual CLI experience.
That's it. I dedicated at least one hour every single day for studies no excuses. This includes weekends. I read so much my head is actually bigger from all the data in it. Sites like RouterGods, and RouterAlley also had great pdfs that I found great! I also have Anki on my smartphone for flash cards I had created for fun on the go.
The exam was a surprise. It was all over the board. There was only one sim that I had to configure. Caught me off guard but was so fun. Yes, I had fun with it! lol It was challenging and made me think about where to find data and I had to subnet in my head. Great experience. I really wish the exam was full of these types of questions. I feel that would more adequately show 'skills'. Just my opinion. The rest were the typical multiple choice that I despise, some drag and drop, (very easy) and some sims that I just had to use show commands to answer questions for.
Up next? Not sure. I've been studying non-stop since January. I just got home and it almost feels good to have nothing to study. With my semester starting soon, I might just hold off on certs at the moment, however, I find I am getting addicted to it. My IT internship is done this Friday, and on Monday I start a full-time NOC job in a data center. I can't wait! I've read that a CCNP without experience is a red flag so not sure if I should start that right away or just concentrate on school and work right now. Another interest I have is in linux. I'm starting a class this semester working with CentOS so was thinking about possibly pursing a Linux certification. Other than that, my classes are Cisco classes and MS server courses. Not sure I want to pursue any MS certs right now.
anyway, thanks for reading, and as always, thanks TE for being here and helping me get through my study sessions.
Wish you all the best!
