CCNA Studies - I Took My 1st Boson Practice Exam

I finally took my first Boson ExSim practice exam this week, and I did horribly. I’m not kidding—I only got 34% of the questions right, and by question number sixty, I had only 18% correct. After that score, I decided to take a mental break from anything IT-related, including studying for the CCNA and even work. So, I took the weekend off from all of it.

I’ve been working six days a week for most of this year, and lately, it's been super busy with many people returning to their offices after eighteen months of working from home. Why am I working every Saturday? Overtime pay! Out of a large team of technicians, I volunteered for it—but only after checking in with my wife to make sure she was okay with being home alone with the kids. I can't thank her enough for her support. Working Saturdays has been a win-win for us: I get the extra pay and use my free time to study for the CCNA.

Besides the good pay, it’s been a nice shift to catch up on repairs or incidents from the week. Most Saturday shifts were quiet and typically around 7 to 8 hours, but in September, the hours were extended to 12 due to more staff, faculty, and students returning to campus. I enjoy the extra hours and the studying, but I was starting to feel burned out and needed a mental reset—especially after taking that Boson practice exam.

So, I told my manager I wouldn’t be covering this past Saturday and spent the whole weekend with my wife and kids. No labs, no studying, no work—just family time. I went to my five-year-old son’s soccer game and was so excited to see him score his second goal. After the game, we stayed a bit longer to let the kids play on the playground. We did a lot of fun things together, and I couldn’t have asked for better fall weather in Connecticut.

At times, I wanted to pick up my flashcards or do a Boson lab, but I really enjoyed the break and being present with my family. I was due for it—and I'm glad I took the exam when I did.

The exam itself was great. It felt like getting punched in the gut, but it was important to gauge where I stand with what I’ve studied so far. I’ve heard nothing but great things online about Boson’s practice exams from people who’ve passed. The format is solid, the content is tough, and the questions are well-written. I’d recommend Boson ExSim and NetSims to anyone prepping for the CCNA. The only thing I wish the ExSim had was an option to break it down by chapter, subject, or content. When I studied for the Network+ exam, I’d go chapter-by-chapter and test myself after each one, which really helped.

Why did I take the exam now? I scheduled my actual exam for mid-November and needed to identify my strengths and weaknesses. It’s clear I have more weaknesses than strengths, but during the practice exam, I realized I actually knew some of the answers. My main issue was misreading the questions or answers.

After seeing my score, I’m considering rescheduling my exam—and if I do, that’s okay. But I’ll wait until I get closer to the date to reassess. If by the end of October I’m still not retaining the information, I’ll know what to do.

I keep hearing from folks on YouTube and elsewhere that the CCNA isn’t a destination—it’s a journey. And if now’s not the time, that’s okay. I remind myself that I’m still new to this content, and many others have been in my shoes. My goal after passing the CCNA is to become a Network Administrator, Technician, or Junior Network Engineer—whether within my current company or somewhere else.

I’m thinking of rescheduling because I have a lot of information to absorb, and I’ve got about fifty days left. There are still exam objectives I don’t fully understand. The CCNA covers a ton of material. What confuses me most right now—among many things—is how packets flow. I have a general idea, but if I had to explain it to someone else, I might miss a few key points. With seven weeks and three days to go, I’ve still got a lot to learn, test, and review.

Honestly, I don’t know how people take the exam in under eight weeks without any prior IT or networking knowledge. I mean, sure, anyone can learn it—but for me, it’s taking time to really understand the concepts. Learning what specific commands do and memorizing them is a workout in itself.

All in all, I’m glad I took the weekend off and now I’m excited to get back into studying. I’m not rescheduling just yet. There’s still a lot to learn, but if you’re feeling overwhelmed or burned out, it’s crucial to take breaks—especially if you’ve got a family and other responsibilities. Take advantage of every moment, and don’t be afraid to hit the reset button when needed. Just don’t stop, and don’t give up.

I’m ready for these next seven good weeks of studying. See you soon, CCNA.

My CCNA Studies - I Scheduled My Exam for November!

It has been a while since I have posted an update on my CCNA studies and I am excited to say that I scheduled the exam for the second week in November.

I need to be honest and say that it was challenging to study this summer.  I feel like summers are not that long in Connecticut.  I took most of July off from studying to enjoy the warm weather and to spend quality time with my wife and kids. While we were on vacation my plan was to study at night when the kids were in bed but that did not turn out as planned and I am really happy it did. 

My wife and I had previous employers that did not allow employees to take more than a week at a time of vacation unless there was a major life changing event. So taking two full weeks was one of the best vacations we had since we got married.  But after we got done with vacation I knew that I had to make up some ground with my studies. 

I have been studying on and off since earlier this year but truth is that I did not have the official accountability. But now I do with my exam schedule and once I did, in the words of Emeril Legasse, I "kicked it up a notch!".  

 Learning networking technologies is not easy for me to understand but I still like it.  I am a person that loves how things are made and work.  At work I have been taking advantage of the overtime and working six days a week most of 2021. Nobody at work has wanted the overtime on Saturdays, except another technician but it is really quiet so I take the opportunity to do a full day of studying.  Even then I still feel like it has been a challenge to study eight to 11 hours every Saturday but what keeps me in check is having the exam scheduled.

As soon as I scheduled it I knew I needed a good lab to work with since the Cisco labs I got in March expired and were only available for three months. I wish they would just provide access to that for the whole year. Three months of access is not enough in my opinion unless you already have experience in networking and just need to review some things in a lab environment.  So I  went and got both the Boson NetSim for labs and the ExSim as a practice exam. So far the labs are just as good if not better than the ones from Cisco. I like the format and the way they go about it. I like how they create multiple tasks that are repetitive. It helps me to grasp the commands when configuring the devices and for anyone who is a musician can appreciate and understand how important repetition is.  

Since then I have been able to understand more how NAT and PAT work along with many other protocols and configurations. I also change it up and use David Bombals CCNA and Packet Tracers courses.  His Packet Tracer course on Udemy is great.  If you do not have enough funds to purchase the NetSim from Boson get his course.  You wont regret it but definitely get the ExSim if you do not have a practice exam for the CCNA.  I went through a few questions on exam one and they are really good. I heard others online say how the Boson ExSim is close to the Cisco exam. 

I like David Bombal's Packet Tracer courses because he challenges one to go about real-life-like scenarios before providing the how to. I think it's important to do so to force one to learn the process because in real life we will need to do our own research to troubleshoot and configure a network. 

For books, I had the digital copy of Cisco Cert Guide but somehow they got removed from OReilly Books from my company so I have Todd Lammle's book and will say it's an easier read. I should have used these a long time ago because the OCGs are a tough read.  

In all, I am excited and nervous to take the exam in three months. August almost gone but I have learned a good amount from earlier this year.

What I might do next is just go through the first of the three available exams by Boson to get an idea of where my strengths and weaknesses are and focus on where I don't know anything. 

Let me know if you have any struggles and successes. I like to see what people have done to pass their exams and their experience with the exam taken at home or work.