my observations on everything right and wrong with the world - starting with myself.
Saturday, August 25, 2001
Today is the day that I realized that my mind does not think like the minds of others around me.
Those of you who know me know that I did not study to be an engineer nor did I aspire to be one. I majored in Classics and Education while I was in school and I graduated thinking that I was going to be a teacher. Unfortunately, fate decided that my right brain was having too much fun and that my left brain was missing many synapses.
After much recruiting and an offer that friends said I couldn't pass up, I became an 'engineer', and today, I was initiated into the underworld of engineering by undergoing a mockery of an academic exam by undergoing the dreaded CCNA test.
I am now a Cisco-certified Network Associate, and I am awarded all rights and privileges thereto pertaining.
What does having a CCNA prove? To me, it proved that my 4+ years of non-study at UCLA paid off because my 6+ weeks of non-study for the CCNA still led me to pass the test. I seriously did not STUDY for the CCNA. I skimmed over books and memorized a few key concepts, but honestly, I went into the exam completely clueless and the biggest thought on my mind was how my boss was going to take it if I failed.
Everyone else in class studied every night, took NUMEROUS practice exams, and asked questions pertinent to the test.
I left class promptly at 5 and I checked email during lecture. I would open my books while I was in bed and I would inadvertently end up studying the IKEA catalog instead of ISDN and WAN protocols.
Yet, I passed.
So, for my very first post on this blog thing, I've decided to bitch at the IT community for depending on certification exams as a measure for competence. I would be the last person I would call if I had problems with my network, but just because I have a CCNA, I'm supposed to be more competent than most people?
But even though, I'll still flaunt the stupid certification as if it were an 18-inch penis. in girth.
Those of you who know me know that I did not study to be an engineer nor did I aspire to be one. I majored in Classics and Education while I was in school and I graduated thinking that I was going to be a teacher. Unfortunately, fate decided that my right brain was having too much fun and that my left brain was missing many synapses.
After much recruiting and an offer that friends said I couldn't pass up, I became an 'engineer', and today, I was initiated into the underworld of engineering by undergoing a mockery of an academic exam by undergoing the dreaded CCNA test.
I am now a Cisco-certified Network Associate, and I am awarded all rights and privileges thereto pertaining.
What does having a CCNA prove? To me, it proved that my 4+ years of non-study at UCLA paid off because my 6+ weeks of non-study for the CCNA still led me to pass the test. I seriously did not STUDY for the CCNA. I skimmed over books and memorized a few key concepts, but honestly, I went into the exam completely clueless and the biggest thought on my mind was how my boss was going to take it if I failed.
Everyone else in class studied every night, took NUMEROUS practice exams, and asked questions pertinent to the test.
I left class promptly at 5 and I checked email during lecture. I would open my books while I was in bed and I would inadvertently end up studying the IKEA catalog instead of ISDN and WAN protocols.
Yet, I passed.
So, for my very first post on this blog thing, I've decided to bitch at the IT community for depending on certification exams as a measure for competence. I would be the last person I would call if I had problems with my network, but just because I have a CCNA, I'm supposed to be more competent than most people?
But even though, I'll still flaunt the stupid certification as if it were an 18-inch penis. in girth.
