Well, in exactly 7 days, and 4 hours, I’ll be taking my first Cisco certification exam. If I’m going to pass or fail at this point is a crap-shoot at best. I have seven days to study study study. I have Monday off of both jobs to spend it simply studying the entire day. With any luck, this $150.00 I just spent to take the exam will be well worth it. If I fail, well, that’s a different story. I don’t have another $150.00 to spend durhing this time of economic crisis. However if my grand scheme of plans falls into place, I’ll pass this, on the first try. I’ll go on to finish the Cisco Networking Academy next semester of school, take and pass my CCNA (skipping the CCENT totally, I’m already beyond that knowledge level.) Then I’ll have two really good associate level certifications that TRULY compliment eachother. Networking Associate, and Design Associate. They basically tell en employer “Hey, I know how to design a brand new, fully functional network, as well as support it and troubleshoot it when things get hairy down the road.” Most people who JUST have a CCNA or CCDA can only say one of those points, they either know how to build and design it, but not get down with the nitty-gritty of a network, and its shortcomings, or they simply know how to come into an existing environmenet and work on a networ, but not nessicarly how to design a large enterprise network from the ground up.

These two certifications will really be my stepping stone to a great career that I can’t wait to start. Now, if only this economy would cooperate with me, and allow me to get a job making the kind of money I should.