Corey DeGrandchamp > Cisco

Well, in exactly 7 days, and 4 hours, I’ll be taking my first Cisco certification exam. If I’m going to pass or fail at this point is a crap-shoot at best. I have seven days to study study study. I have Monday off of both jobs to spend it simply studying the entire day. With any luck, this $150.00 I just spent to take the exam will be well worth it. If I fail, well, that’s a different story. I don’t have another $150.00 to spend durhing this time of economic crisis. However if my grand scheme of plans falls into place, I’ll pass this, on the first try. I’ll go on to finish the Cisco Networking Academy next semester of school, take and pass my CCNA (skipping the CCENT totally, I’m already beyond that knowledge level.) Then I’ll have two really good associate level certifications that TRULY compliment eachother. Networking Associate, and Design Associate. They basically tell en employer “Hey, I know how to design a brand new, fully functional network, as well as support it and troubleshoot it when things get hairy down the road.” Most people who JUST have a CCNA or CCDA can only say one of those points, they either know how to build and design it, but not get down with the nitty-gritty of a network, and its shortcomings, or they simply know how to come into an existing environmenet and work on a networ, but not nessicarly how to design a large enterprise network from the ground up.

These two certifications will really be my stepping stone to a great career that I can’t wait to start. Now, if only this economy would cooperate with me, and allow me to get a job making the kind of money I should.

Well, just sitting here in Cisco class, learning about VLANS, and VTP, and trunking, blah blah blah, this class should have came before the in-depth routing protocols class, for sure.

Anyhow, I’m doing very well, getting somewhere in the 80’s on all my tests so far, finished the first 2 Cisco classes with A’s, hoping I’ll do that here too.

Michigan Drill is going well, created some new servers today, actually starting to “show my worth” there, once my new email system launches everything should go GREAT, just nervous about getting everybody used to it, especally Hy, the president, he seems wary about changes… Especailly if there’s a cost to it, which thankfully, there’s not.

PS. I started a new wordpress blog for me and Jordan and what we do at work, for ultimate geekdom, visit
http://www.michigandrill.com/blog/

WOOOO!

Time.
There’s not enough of it…
I’ve been busing my ass lately at school to get to where I want to be. Every opportunity that shows itself, there’s always some reason about why it won’t work out for me, and it all has to do with time.

Just this past Thursday, there was an exclusive job fair ONLY for Cisco certified partners, and my CCAI (Cisco Certified Academy Instructor) wanted me to go… as well as some other students in the class, telling me that it would be a great opportunity for me, and that is the kind of thing I need to be doing… Unfortunately it was at 9:00am in Southfield, MI. Too bad I had to work at 10:00am, even if I wanted to go for a half of an hour or something, I would have had no way to make it back to work on time.

At least I know they all wanted me to go right? It makes me feel good about myself at least. I have no doubt that someday, once I have my CCNA, and CCDA certifications as well as some others… I’ll be getting a wonderful job working for an amazing company, who better be stationed in California!

But in the meantime, I don’t hate my current job at Starbucks, I actually really love [nearly] everybody I work with. I actually AM passionate about coffee, and espresso. It’s an art really… unfortunately most people that work for the company fail to see that.

Starbucks has really been a life-changing experience for me, and I know it has been for Angela, as well, and even Justin. They take an amazing pride in teaching their partners how to be genuine, and that we really SHOULD care about the customers/patrons. I really used to be extremely shy, and have the “I don’t care, I don’t know them” mentality about everybody. But throughout my training, and growing as a person working for Starbucks, I’ve really changed alot of my views, I truly have become a much more friendly person, and more genuine. I have no doubt that what Starbucks has taught me, will help me succeed for the rest of my life, even on that special day when I do land my dream job.