Malik Nabeel, CCIE #24859

I always use to read the success story of almost every CCIE on this form to evaluate myself that how I am going and where I am standing to get motivation from them. But today its mine day to write something here. I passed my written exam in March 2008 and thought to move forward towards the lab. But I never knew that how to start and from where to start. I google it and found internetwork expert community as a best resource. I read the note of Brian Dennis "how to become CCIE" that really put me on right track. I planned my study according to that. Started with Advance Technology (R&S) labs, and gone through that twice, then I started volume-2 on 1st lab it took me 3 days with 8 hours working on very 1st lab and I came to know that CCIE is all about dedication. So, I decided to move steadily with motivation towards my goal. I found my self that whenever I repeat the lab I always found new thing or anything that I left unintentional in previous try. I practised as per Brian Denis recommendation 1,2-4,5,7, etc. and practised them over again and again. That improved my grip on technology and CLI typing speed. Gone through CoD over and over and again that's fruitful to you and what I found was to note the important points in CoD (CoD is like golden words that is full of knowledge). That worked and helped me to get prepare for the big day. It took almost 18 months for me to clear the lab with dedicated 8-9 hours study per day. I used IE's product for open ended question and gone through the document links to find detail about each question that not only helped me in understanding the question but also improved my theoretical knowledge. For open ended questions; I will recommend Anthony Sequeira's book (CCIE quick reference guide) I am thankful to Brian Dennis/McGahan, Scott Morris, Petr and Anthony for being my teachers in this journey. I am dedicating my CCIE number to my Country (Pakistan) and to my parents- the balance in my life.