Sunday, January 29, 2006

Making the time to study - life style change

I am always amazed at how big a mental change I have to make in order to get back into the study habit. Maybe frustrated would be a better word. Anyway, I finally have put the investment in on getting materials to study and now have a small study group together to try and keep me on track to learn and practice all the info I need.

I think when you are working day in and day out you forget how much effort you have to go through to learn new material and to retain it for access in a quick format like an exam. At work I always know I can turn around and grab either a book, a reference manual or look up on the Internet about some subject. No such luck in a closed book exam format. It can be a wake up call for those who think obtaining a certification is just a matter of knowing the material, its knowing how to take a test in the format and parameters the certification test writers wanted you to know the material.

Who knows if it is worth the time and effort... but at this point I am gonna keep up the studying.
-Ed

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, I'm glad I came across your blog! I'm in the same boat as you are when it comes to the studying.

I work and go to school, and can barely find time to relax already. I want to study for my CCIE, so I may begin this summer. I also agree in that much of it is studying for what the exam wants to see, as opposed to really understanding the topic.

You are on my bookmark list now!

Howfunky said...

Kristin,
I have a friend I am studying with now to go over all the material for the CCIE R/S written. We decided to also pick up the new CCIE Routing and Switching Official Exam Certification Guide (2nd Edition) from Cisco Press. It seems to fill in some gaps in Brad Ellis' study guide (which is a good study guide BTW).

I think the best thing to do to get on track to take the exam is to have someone that is a study partner that you meet with at least once a week. It really does make you accountable and we have managed to make it through half of the material to date. Not bad.

Best of luck with studying. We have managed to put together a relatively large list of materials so if you have questions about what study guide or book is worth the time shoot me an e-mail and if I have it I can give you my thoughts.
- Ed