My first second and last CCIE attempt story

So this is my first attempt for CCIE, I didn't pass the exam, I would not call that was a fail, I learned something very important that day, which was I'm not ready yet!

so this is what happened, I booked for my exam in Dubai UAE, for July, the weather is really hot and since its a city near the sea, humidity was really high....

I booked in a hotel that is 2 minutes walking from Cisco exam center, yet these two minutes walking was like a marathon in Dubai weather.

anyhow, I arrived UAE three days before exam, which was really boring thing to do but this is what happens when you live in a country that doesnt have flights on daily basis to UAE.

Feelings before exam:
I was really clam and relaxed and that's what I thought before the exam, but after the exam I realized I was panicked but my brain managed to keep me clam somehow, until the moment the exam started.

so I arrived at Cisco building at 07:00 AM exactly, according to the recommendation, but we had to wait until 07:40AM until the proctor came, and the waiting is one of the factors that will start the panic process, the proctor took us to the exam room and it was a normal office, with normal temperature not like many people say that its cold.

the proctor didn't say that much, he seemed very quite.

btw, what I learned, you shouldnt need the proctor if you are really ready and really a CCIE, you should get into the exam, and you shouldnt have any question to be asked to proctor or tasks to be explained, you should sit and start solving the tasks until you finish it all.

anyhow, exam was really hard, the time was flying and I could solve almost nothing, I was surprised how people told me the exam is easy while what I saw was really different.

I learnt that you must be a CCIE before going into that room, passing the exam is just part of the process, its something that you have to do, the exam is really a test for your speed in
1. understand tasks
2. typing commands
3. understanding traffic flow and the idea behind the whole lab
4.time management
5. self-control

I passed one of the three sections only, which is (Diagnostic) while I failed the other two
the TSHOOT was the panic attack and I was all over the place, I forgot where to start and how to trace the problem which caused me failing this part

the Config section I remember wasting two hours in Layer2 config only.

then wasting another hour and a half on IGP


then I decided to give up and end the exam session, all I was thinking of was my wife and my kids, I missed them a lot, and it was really bad feeling watching all the time I did studying going like this in the exam
Ok, I walked out that building and I felt such satisfaction that I didnt understand why.
was is because of the pressure I put myself into? or was it because I did the exam and even if I failed I was ready that I will pass next time and the important thing is that I sat the exam and saw the exam?



I tried to enjoy Dubai until the flight date, I was really excited to go home and see my family.

the next thing to do was to set a new plan, I wanted to conquer CCIE and be a real one.

I started viewing my weak points, and set a plan to fill the gaps, until next attempt I must be 100% ready to pass the exam, no excuses and no panic

Next Attempt? February 2019.

 

update to this, I did not pass my second attempt in Feb. 2019, and I tried again few months later specifically in June 2019 and I passed the exam this time.

the feelings after passing the exam are unexplained, worked very hard to pass this monster exam.

it is time to move on now to learn more and prove myself as an expert and help others and payback the community.

Thanks

Samer R. Saleem