Studying for the CCNA
Good evening! I just thought I would write a little bit about my journey studying for the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certification. I started studying back in February, so about 8 months ago, and I plan to take the exam this month. I was exploring careers and IT and after some research decided to study for the CCNA as a good starting place. I chose the CCNA because I wanted to learn the fundamentals of networking and get actual practice configuring routers and switches.
I have to say it’s been a journey! I began working through Neil Anderson’s video course and labs. It’s a really good resource but for me personally it was not enough. I found Jeremy McDowell’s course really helpful as he seemed to explain concepts more thoroughly.
A few months ago I got the Official Cert Guide by Wendell Odom. I wish I had bought these books back in February. Maybe I am more of a visual learner, but reading through the books has helped tremendously.
All in all I’ve read about 1100 pages and listened to around 70 hours of video. I’ve also spent dozens of hours labbing with Cisco Packet Tracer and Boson’s ExSim, both incredibly helpful.
So yeah, hopefully after reviewing for the next couple weeks I will be able to pass this test!