Amp's CCIE Quest On a quest for the digits…

Step #1.

I have been on, I guess you can call it, whirlwind kind of ride the past few weeks. Since finishing up with my CCVP back toward the end of November I have been up and down about what to do next. I never wanted to embark upon the voice, or what we call it at work IPT, journey so that may be why it has been a little difficult for me to get my feet underneath me. I wanted to pursue the CCIE Service Provider but was told at the end of '07, you need a professional level certification for your '08 goal. I said ok cool, I'll do the CCSP. They (Mgmt) said, ok great you're going to do CCVP.

In hindsight, the CCVP was the better choice for a couple of reasons.

1.) Our group received money for training at Global Knowledge so I was able to attend all of the CCVP classes except for QoS and CIPT2.

2.) We have been bringing in a plethora of voice customers.

Ok, back to the point. After finishing up my CCVP to meet my objective for 2008, I figured hey I would not pursue anything for a while. I was content with that notion until one day at church my Pastor taught about being excellent and persuing excellence in everything we do. Once I saw the scriptures for myself I realized that I can't proclaim to be a follower of Christ and not want to persue excellence in everything I do, if not for myself and my family at least for the glory of God's Kingdom.

So I went to my management team and said, "I want to move to that next level. I want to come off of working Midnights and back on the day shift so I can work more issues, and I am going to work on the CCIE (R&S)." His response was "Great, coming back to days will be the best move for you; as soon as YOU find someone with voice experience to replace you on MIDS! Oh by the way, if I were you, I would definitely work on the CCIE, but for VOICE!"

I left that meeting feeling like, "Are you serious, CCIE Voice? How in the world am I going to do that with NO lab equipment, NO mentors, and definitely NO CCIE level experience (barely CCVP level) in Voice?" At least with the R&S track, I have 4 people that I am close too that have knocked that track out and can offer insight, advice, and even help on that journey. You know what I hear when I talk about voice, "NO WAY man, you're on your own with that one. You're the voice guy, not me." I've ONLY been involved with this voice stuff since April when I took my 1st class. Being that I work at night, MOST of our voice issues happen during the day, which means I don't get to see the issues at night. It wasn't until Sept. or Oct. that I started getting voice calls at night, and not that many at that.

So here I am, 2:10am on Jan. 2, 2009 up because I've been paged on a voice issue that really isn't an issue, wondering how do I pursue this great task. At least with the R&S track there are a million and one blogs with people that are either doing it or have done it and have some good insight on how and where to begin. Not so much on the voice side. When I first started this blog, I remembered hearing a quote that said "The journey of life begins with one step".  I know that the journey towards CCIE Voice begins with one step as well; I just don't know what that first step is or should be. ESPECIALLY being that the performance goal that I have been given is to sit the lab before the end of '09.

I'm not sure if this is the place to start, but this is where I am going to start. Over the next week or so I am going to read the Enterprise QoS Solution SRND. I'm going to blog about it, that should help with hammering home what I learn. I'm going to talk about it, that should help with making sure I know what I'm talking about. Last but not least I am going to pray. Not about the SRND, but that I get access to a lab so that I will be able to study, learn, and master the individual technologies that will be covered on the lab. I do have rack time that I was blessed with, but I need to save those rack hours for when I am doing the full 8-hour mock labs or at the very least the 4-hour multi-protocol labs.

Well I am going to try and get some sleep, again. I hope to spend at least 4 hours in the morning reading and another 1 or 2 in the evening before I lay down for my nap before work.

Starting over…

Well I am starting this blog over fresh and new... Please be patient while I work some things out...

In the beginning…

I am not 100% sure of how I got to this point, studying hours upon hours to reach a certification pinnacle that statistics have shown that only 3% of those that attempt it actually achieve it. Listening to a sermon from church a few nights ago definitely had something to do with it "The Spirit of Excellence to Produce Prosperity". I was left feeling like if I am going to remain in the industry that I have been in for almost 13 years then why not begin the journey of excellence in pursuing my CCIE?

In talking to some people that have either already achieved that coveted CCIE number or those that are trying to obtain it now, it became clear that this journey could quite possibly be one of my toughest mental tests since graduating from Marine Corps boot camp 13 years ago.

Well I am game for the challenge, mentally, physically, technically, and most of all spiritually. I will chronicle my every step along the way so that others that are looking for inspiration can possibly draw some from my quest, I will also write in this blog to help keep me focused and steadfast along the way, and to also see the entire spectrum along the way, you know the beginning and the ending....