One week down, many to go!
Seems like it should definitely be a fun semester. Two of my days (day 1 and day 3) are Cisco in the morning and Network OS in the afternoon. Day 1 is CCNA switching taught by Chris and 70-646 Network OS Administration taught by Ray, while day 3 is CCNA routing taught by Rob and 70-640 Active Directory taught by Chi.
While my Day 2 classes are still a lot of fun – Server Hardware and Linux Administration – I’m a bit of a networking fanboy so those days are my preference. All of the classes are definitely and noticeably more difficult than last semester – primarily because of the workload which seems to have doubled. At the same time, the concepts themselves tend to be easier to grasp because we all now have a solid base of understanding. But I’ve really been enjoying the content. Active Directory is a lot of fun and I love getting hit with tons of new information in each of the Cisco classes. Really challenging but offers lots of motivation to keep on with it.
I think I’ve figured out a schedule for acquiring my certifications. I think I’ll work on my 70-640, 642, and 646 through this semester – hopefully get my 642 done in the next few weeks, and the 640 and 646 by the end of July – and I’ll write my CCNA while we’re finishing up the student project in June. Rob was talking about the importance of writing our certifications on an ongoing basis on Friday, and raised some pretty good points. Since the first year teaches everything you need for the CCNA, it’s important to take that certification as soon as you can after the curriculum finishes – then the information is all still fresh in your mind. If you don’t take the CCNA in the summer between, then when you start the training for CCNP (which is three exams, ROUTE, SWITCH, and TSHOOT), you are quite far behind as you need to write CCNA before CCNP.
Outside of class, I’ve started getting back into playing squash. I like playing at BCIT – though honestly, the courts aren’t great, because they’re very dusty and there’s a lot of inconsistencies with how flat the front walls are – which can throw off your shots depending how you play. In going there three times to play I’ve met a couple people to play already, and have a group set up for every Friday to get together for some games. Which I’m quite happy for. I find that a good workout before class provides a good start to the day.
Off for break now – free chili in the UConnect office – free chili waits for nobody, not even this blog!
TTYL
Seth
