Tech Jawa > CCDA

Well, I took my CCDA exam (640-863) on December 23rd, and I ended up scoring an 80%. While needing an 82.5% to obtain the actual certification, I missed it by literally a question or, maybe a question and a half. While very discouraging at the time, I do feel good about myself now, having to take a certification exam on a subject I’m not schooled in, and never had any official trianing in, to still score an 80% is fairly good in my book.

The CCDA will not defeat me, I’ll be getting some money together and going to take it again after I study a bit more.

Now that I’ve got my feel for how the Cisco exams work, I feel much more confident about things, and plan to pass this one the next time. I should be taking my CCDA again and then my CCNA shortly after.

In other news, things have been going pretty well, the apartment is coming along nicely, getting a new dishwashter installed today. Christmas was a blast, I’ll have to post an update about that in the coming days. Flickr update expected soon as well.

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.