Passed Route! 1 more exam to go!
300-101 pass
I passed the 300-101 Cisco route exam yesterday!!!! Why four exclamations? Because that's how many attempts it took me to pass the exam. That fact is embarrassing and I may delete this post in the future if I wind up back in the job market, but this place is meant to document my CCNP journey and I want to be as honest as possible here. This is familiar, as I have never passed a Cisco exam on my first attempt.I blamed my multiple CCNA failures on lack of experience, as I was getting that cert to help me land my first network job. After a couple years working at a NOC, I blamed my CCNP switch failures on not liking switching. I'm more of a routing guy :)I blamed my first NP route failure on lack of preparation; I scheduled an exam to motivate me to study but failed to reschedule the exam in the allowed time frame, so I had to take the exam unprepared. My second NP route failure was a tough pill to swallow; I studied hard, but skipped IPV6, cause who needs IPV6! There is a lot of IPV6 on this exam, so it was back to the books for me. My third attempt fell 20 points shy of the required 790 score to pass. My anxiety continued to build, as all of my certs were about to expire and I don't have the heart to start from the beginning again. I mustered up what dignity I had left, hit the books once more and took this beast one more time. A few things I have learned along the way:
Humans will come up with a litany of excuses to try and explain away failure
Excuses and justifications may shield the ego, but do nothing to get to the truth
There is no substitute for hard work
Unless you are a genius (I am not) you will need to work very hard on difficult things in order to succeed
Fear/anxiety can be helpful, but you need to learn to master these emotions if you will ever overcome their grip
If you want something bad enough, nothing can stop you
Watching Rudy before a big exam can be motivating, especially if you are the underdog
If you don't believe in yourself, no one will believe in you
Fake it until you make it
If you party through your college years, you may spend your 40's working your ass off to succeed
-Andy Lap