I began my job experience in 2003 with a small Internet service provider which was using a 2500 series router as the only router to provide internet access through microwave links to its local clients – Cybercafés, etc. This was the first place I saw and knew about the Cisco router.

Though I was earning relatively poor salary, I was nevertheless motivated by the opportunity that I got to work in an environment where I could kick-start my dreamed career. Failing my first CCNA exam in 2004 was a harrowing experience for me not just because of the hard effort towards studying, but most importantly due to the trying experience of sourcing funds for the exam. I passed the exam on the second attempt later in the year and I immediately began the journey for CCNP.

I am an orphan, a son of a late peasant farmer, but I am uniquely talented as I was the best Mathematics student both at Primary and Secondary schools. I am also the only child of family of nine to be privileged to have university education. However, there have been challenges in my quest to achieve career/professional success as, for example, I had to depend on friends and well-wishers to sponsor some of my CCNP exam modules.

Most of my working years were spent working with IT companies - ISPs and IT consulting companies. In 2008 after becoming a CCNP, I decided to pursue my CCIE certification. In January 2009, I passed my CCIE Routing and Switching Written exam with the hope that before the expiration of the 18 month deadline for validity of the exam, providence would have provided an opportunity - funding - to schedule the lab exam. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a utopian dream! The written exam expired without being able to fund the lab exam.

In 2010, after getting another job as a Network Engineering Manager with a relatively better pay, I decided to revisit my goal of being an expert in any endeavor I lay my hands on. In July 2011, I sat for another CCIE Routing and Switching written exam which I passed. Since then, I have been tirelessly studying with the plan of taking advantage of the Cisco mobile lab of which Lagos, where I live, happens to host one of the three African centers. As a married man with 2 children but not so good salary, I have been trying to raise the money for the lab exam, including borrowing from friends, to pay for the exam before I got to know about this scholarship scheme.

As a CCIE, it is my dream to author or co-author books on Cisco technology and help the upcoming networking engineers through online networking communities and in any other capacity I can use to give back to the IT community.

With the INE scholarship, I am beginning to believe that all hopes of bringing my people out of poverty through achieving greatness with CCIE are not lost. I have never attended any training for any of my exams mainly due to lack of sponsorship. I prepared for all my exams through self-study using Internet resources.

If I am lucky to be one of the beneficiaries of this prestigious scholarship, undergo training with world leader in IT Training, and ultimately pass the exam, INE would have succeeded in building a nation out of me and bring a community out of poverty by singular act of nurturing an orphan and son of a peasant farmer to greatness.

Sincerely,
Waheed Olanipekun

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Throughout my life I have participated in extracurricular activities including valuable volunteer experiences. I have striven for academic excellence, always wishing to make the most of my education. In addition, I have managed to work to provide for some of the basic expenses that students have.

I have a BSc in Electrical/Electronics Engineering from University of Lagos, Nigeria. I started my career in Networking while i was doing my undergraduate internship at a cyber cafe in 2004. After my internship i knew i wanted to be a CCIE. At that time, they were only about five CCIEs in Nigeria and they all trained outside the country and resources to train then was very expensive and limited. I have steadily developed my networking career personally and with my limited income. I Obtained my CCNA in 2007 with a score of 1000 and that spurred me forward. In 2008 i obtained my CCNP and was able to get a job with a local ISP.

Ever since i have been preparing for the CCIE. Its not easy putting aside money for industry certifications in a developing country like Nigeria to develop ones career especially because wages are very low compared to developed countries. Becoming a CCIE does not guarantee you are better pay in Nigeria as there is no demand for CCIEs. However, I am motivated by the fact that i can become a repository for this body of knowledge and also teach others as i have learnt alot from the INE team.

I have managed to do my CCIE written and also scheduled a lab date for the 26th of July 2012 as the mobile lab will be coming to Lagos, Nigeria in July 2012. I have been studying very hard using INE materials. I purchased 500 rack rental tokens and combine this tokens with GNS3. I currently have 46 tokens to go and can’t really afford to buy anymore sessions because of other financial committments. I am currently a Junior Network Engineer for a Mobile Operator but still earn less than $1000 per month.

My tight working hours which is 12hours a day coupled with the fact that i stay very far from my place of work makes my training very difficult. In addition to my employment i continue to volunteer for community service. I assist in a Kindergarteen class every Tuesdays and take food to prisoners with members of my local church on weekends. I will keep training within my little means but getting such grant from the INE team especially attending a live bootcamp will be simply fantastic and very helpful. I really want to learn and become a full CCIE so that i can also teach others and impact people positively.

I would like to thank you in advance for considering my application.

Kind Regards.
Olusegun Fatokun

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I hope after I get my CCIE, I will open doors of opportunity to work in more complex projects, to assume higher responsibilities, to get into challenging situations, to get more exposures, and to work and get surrounded by another senior level engineers and the experts.

Personal Reasons for Applying Scholarship
CCIE has been regarded as the competitive and demanding certification in the networking field, and not much people with the number. I need to be CCIE to possess the most extensive knowledge in networking, and get exclusive level support with Cisco. When I am as CCIE calls into Cisco for support, Cisco knows it’s probably serious and they don’t waste time with standard escalation, I will get the experience and resources to resolve networking problems quickly and effectively and are a value add to any company to ensure network stability. To sum up, my reasons are; to gain more competitive technical skills, to get exclusive escalation in my capacity as a NOC engineer.

Basically my personal reasons for applying this scholarship are to deliver maximum technical value in the domain Internetworking, information and Internet as a skilled and certified in Routing-Switching Technology. And To gain more benefit of expertise in the field that I am belong to, with strengths that I will get in CCIE journey, will sharpen my Technical Analysis, Configurations, Troubleshooting, Root- Cause Finding, escalating problem and another acumen in domain Routing-Switching especially in Service Provider and Enterprise Ecosystem.

I got into Cisco world when i moved to NOC Team on 2nd year i join PT Telkom Indonesia, prior to joining this company i worked at system integrator company as a system developer which is far from networking stuffs and i had zero knowledge about Cisco. So i get some training (with personal cash) for CCNA and JNCIA, within 2 years i got several certifications CCNA, CCIP, JNCIA, JNCIS and JNCIP, and now preparing for CCIE. It has been 5 years for me delving into Networking world, learning, working, also teaching Cisco course, so this will be exact time to pursuing CCIE as the sub-pinnacle Certification in Networking world.

And the circumstances that kept me from training are; All Cisco labs were expensive, I tried using Cisco Packet Tracer, GNS3, even IOU but still does not satisfy complex troubleshooting and configuration scenarios, initially I was planning to spend money to build home lab, buy books and workbooks and other resource, but I still cant afford them yet. Secondly, still difcult to arrange dedicated time within my daily activity to keep in touch with CCIE journey / preparation, once I get scholarship, it will be mandatory and eagerly to learn because free to access all resources online.

- Febrian Setiadi

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"A Secure interaction among nodes from different MANET Groups using 4G technologies" Oct 2009, IEEE ICET FAST ISBN: 978-1-4244-5633-8, pp. 476-481 (Published)

"Performance Evaluation of Group Mobility in Mobile Ad hoc Networks" Springer, ISSN: 1738-995x, Vol. 1, pp. 29-36, DEC 2008, SERSC-IJFGCN, Korea (Published)

The CCIE Routing and switching from the INE best suites me because it focus on latest hands on CCIE Lab that are specifcally related to areas of my interest. Conducting CCIE Routing and Switching Lab within the INE expertise would improve and increase my knowledge and practical experience, especially because I have not CCIE Lab hands on resources in my country. It will be my privilege to learn from the INE professional with great experience in theory and practical.

Basically, Pakistan is not a highly developed country. The practical higher study is not able to compete with the present world status. I intend to study in the INE for gathering the high standard of technical knowledge so that I can contribute to the country development. We have to face the challenges of 21st century. We are passing a crucial time and competing with the global fellow in every respect. It is not wise to waste a single moment to prepare to meet the upcoming global challenges. I have gone through the INE website. It is always best learning site of Cisco certifcation courses.

I also realize more and more that there are rapid changes in data communication. I possess multiple certifcations like CCNA, CCNP, CCIE (written) and JNCIS and CCAI (Cisco certifed Associate instructor) with my limited resources. I hope this CCIE R&S training is a useful addition to my current education that I can use for my later professional career. This CCIE R&S will defnitely increase my opportunities to get a good job. To further my career aspirations of becoming part of an engineering section, I want to obtain a CCIE certifcation in Routing and Switching. Having this knowledge will allow me to better understand technical principles. With all the uncertainty and changes in with technological, I believe that technology must have a solid understanding, supported by a strong academic foundation, of how to guide companies through these challenging times.

No education is complete without experience. Armed with a solid understanding of academic principles, I can begin my career where I will add to my experience. Because I will be well versed in the theory and practical, I will be able to adapt and modify the theoretical constructs as required in order to meet my public sector university needs. I fully recognize that our technological environments are constantly changing, and thus management needs to be able to adapt quickly and accurately to the new conditions if the university is to survive, let alone prosper. I believe obtaining a CCIE R&S certifcation will provide the necessary background for me to be to anticipate and react to everchanging environments. It is my pleasure, if I can engage my all labor and ability to achieve knowledge from your organization. I am confdent enough that I could be able to accomplish CCIE certifcation in the proposed feld that will contributes to my future professional interest as well as to the society as a whole.

I frmly believe that if I could get a chance to cultivate my potentiality in the INE that will defnitely satisfy my thirst for higher study and it’s a unique opportunity for me to get such kind of offer from an advanced country like USA.

I look forward to launching my new career.

Sincerely,
Shahzada Khurram

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What strengths would you bring as CCIE to the field? Dedication and a genuine interest in networking technologies and my ability to grasp this field with ease are the strengths I would bring. When I successfully obtain my CCIE certification, I know I will have reached the point where I will provide optimal design and troubleshooting skills at a world-class level because of the training I received, the discipline I endure, and the skills that I have mastered.

Where you started in networking and where you are now? My professional career in IT started 14 years ago. Employed by a small consulting firm, I was the primary technical support consultant where I administered a multiple, smaller sized network including server setup/configuration, network designs and installs. At this point I gained invaluable experience and confirmed that this was the passion I would follow. Not only were my technical skills honed, I also learned a great deal of soft skills such as how to deal with clients and how various aspects of business function.

It was during this time after finding a couple of 2500 series routers, that were taken out of a clients site, I used these play around with that I started to study for my CCNA exam. After my CCNA certification, I move to tackle the CCNP certification, for my switching exam I used two Cisco 2900XL (production) switches to practice on. I would take them out of service on the weekends, practice with them, and put them back online before Monday Morning.

I relocated and was employed as a Network Analyst for the largest women’s and children’s hospital in Eastern Canada. It was here that I was first exposed to campus sized networks and Cisco 5500s/6500s. In this position I administered a network that spans multiple buildings, utilizes a few hundred devices and interconnects to several other organizations. During this period of time I proceeded to complete my CCNP certification.

Presently I work for an organization that is responsible for delivering provincially hosted solutions and services to the 37 hospitals and over 150 primary health care facilities within the province. I am one of a two person network team who is responsible for the core networking within two redundant provincial data centers and responsible for coordinating the activities of the multiple service providers to facilitate the support and delivery of the provincial health WAN. During my time in the position I have successfully achieved my CCIP certification.

- Ken Young

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My research in Networking began at the department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carlton University in Ottawa, Canada in 2001. I completed a Master’s Degree and wrote my thesis on Quality of Service in MPLS networks. I have done substantial research in MPLS networks and in particular algorithms used to minimize delay and increase throughput at the Provider Edge devices. Since MPLS is now a major part of the CCIE Routing and Switching blueprint, I believe I can greatly assist in the development of a curriculum on that topic for perspective CCNA and CCNP candidates.

My present work involves provisioning and troubleshooting of Cable, DSL and Fibre services on multivendor equipment including Cisco switches and routers. Some of these issues range from Vlan assignments, fragmentation, MPLS VPNs, BGP AS numbers, duplicate IP addresses to issues of CRC errors, packet drops, throughput and many others. I am also provisioning and troubleshooting CE and PE Cisco devices.

Your program will provide me with the opportunity of troubleshooting a larger pool of issues and provide me with a more organized way of resolving them. Obtaining CCIE credentials will help build confidence in me and upper level management that will lead to greater access to the core network elements. This will also allow me to provide greater assistance to various groups and customers and faster resolution of issues.

As I continue to do research and prepare for the CCIE Routing and Switching Lab, I do realize the limitations of resources and funding. The INE 2012 Scholarship would be of great benefit to me since presently I lack the finances to obtain proper Rack time or work books to prepare for such an exam. I have in the past purchased resources from INE and they have been a great benefit to me and I believe this assistance will go a long way in assisting me realize my goal.

I have been preparing for the exam for some time and I do understand the dedication that is needed to be successful at this exam. I would like to thank you and the Scholarship committee for putting together such a program for perspective CCIE candidates. I would also like to thank you in advance for considering my application and looking forward to working with you.

Yours truly,
Phillip Brade

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Determination and hope are some of the most precious qualities of any person. I think we all need something to look for, a purpose in life, something which will bring us personal satisfaction. While I was in school I was all the time looking for something to make me feel that is worth doing it, something I can get pretty good at to prove to myself, to prove to people around that I can do it, I can overcome my limits. On this process I was looking here and there, but I never really found something which will make sense or get me excited about doing it.

Everything started in a small Cisco academy in a city in Romania. I remember like it was yesterday, with me dragging two other friends with me for our first Cisco class. From that moment, I knew that I might found something which I was looking for, something which might worth working for, and yes I did.

Being a "student" in a Cisco academy was a reason to be proud at that time, it really meant a lot to me. I was still in school not being very sure what I would do after I’ll finish my university. Lots of confusion into my life back then. I found my first job after a while and it was all about my "Cisco knowledge". I finally had my first "big thing", something to work hard for, and that "big thing" on that moment was CCNA. Once I’ve seen the pyramid on Cisco page about Cisco certificate, I knew that I want to be there I want to be called an Expert.

CCNA, a very important moment of my life, Monday October 30th 2006, I will always remember that date. It was a moment when I was able to say "I did it", I did something I worked hard for. I was 24 years old and with less than a year of working experience in networking field I was looking for what’s next. We all need some goals in our life and I found mine, I was happy to see that I found something which makes me feel good, something I enjoy.

Few months after my CCNA I found a new job. This was a prove that my work it wasn’t for nothing and all this knowledge have some benefits in the end. In 2007 I left Romania for a job at IBM Czech Republic as a network engineer. It was another important moment of my life, the beginning of a career in a networking field.

As a tier 2 network engineer in IBM I realized that I am "so small" and there are so many things I don’t know. Now, me being a CCNA was just nothing, I was just another guy and I didn’t really like that. I was looking for another goal and that was CCNP which I finally have it in 2009.

It’s interesting how, some people can start something and don’t stop until they have it done, It is impressive. Some people are just intelligent and they can do thing faster than other people, and some other people are just very hard workers. I think I was for a while somewhere in between, but for sure far from being very intelligent. For me, it was all the time a fight with myself, finding a motivation which is not all the time that easy and yet I found myself on step away of getting "the big step", CCIE. It is a big step indeed, and I realized that on my own.

I found myself surrounded by lots of "network engineers" which like to believe about themselves as smart people who understand things, people who like to talk about high goals as CCIE but just few of them are really willing to pay the price of hard work and dedication. I will always respect intelligent and hard workers.

In 2009 I moved to ATT and after a while a decided it’s time, I need to stop talking about CCIE and just start working on it. I was lucky enough to have around a friend who was preparing for the lab, it was something I used as a motivation. After he failed twice the lab, I knew it’s a hard thing to do and that really satisfy my need of a higher goal.

On my way to the lab I had all the time moments of extreme motivation with lots of hours of labs and study and extreme demotivation by different reasons. I was all the time looking for something to keep my determination intact, and I can say that I found it when I found INE through my colleague which was preparing for the lab.

I found with INE an extreme helpful support which make me believe that becoming a CCIE is not that difficult anymore. I get some videos from the internet and I realized after I’ve watched my first one (OSPF Class with Brian McGahan) that I found something new, something which really reignites my desire to learn more and more. I had some documents also from the internet and I was all the time looking for some more and more INE materials until one day I decided to buy something to see how the original products are. I bought INE workbook vol1 and I was very impressed, it was something i used as a bible around my studies ever since. Once I was "infected" I get into more and more and now I have most of your products related to R&S which really helped me a lot understanding all this technologies.

I used these materials in getting myself prepared for the exam and also I’ve seen different views of how you can teach people(I’m a fan of Brian Dennis, I hope one day I would be able to be part of any of his classes). Since 2011 I’m leading my own classes inside ATT and I have to admit that it’s an incredible feeling to know that you can make people understand something. I can appreciate even more your work via all this products you guys have available. I like getting into details with topics I read and I prefer to know less but very well as opposed to many areas but not really good on something. I wish this life we have will be a little bit longer, there are so many thing we can learn in this life, is just not enough time unfortunately.

I passed my written exam in March 16th 2012 from my second attempt and I’m proud to say I did it by myself, without any "extra help". We all know that we are surrounded by "dumpers" with lots of "expert certificates" which have no knowledge. I’m just one step away from getting my number and I’m very excited. I live for that moment now. I would love to be part of any live bootcamp not just to learn new things but to meet people which really changed my life, people I respect a lot.

Getting closer and closer of my lab I realize that becoming CCIE is the beginning of the road and I love it. I can finally say after several years I was looking for something to work for, I found it and I’m very happy. Even though I would like to start reading some other topics outside of R&S I would do my best to stay around until I’ll pass my exam and after a whole new world will be open in front of me.

In the end I would like to apologize for my English(not my native language), I’m not a person of to many words however I tried in few words to describe my way from a very confused student into a person who have a future, a person who know what he want to do. I would like to express my appreciation and respect towards you guys. Your company changed my life in a very good way and I appreciate that very much.

Love you guys!!!
Andrei Bot

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I have also purchased various pieces of Material from INE towards the end of 2011. This was following a recommendation from Colleagues that had used INE in the successful pursuit of their CCIE. Due to work commitments and family illness, I am still working on the volume 1 workbook. I have also built my own lab matching the INE topology. I am hoping increase my study time with a view of taking the Lab exam in early 2013.

When I first discovered that the CCIE accreditation, and understood technical ability an engineer had to have, I thought that this was way out of my reach. However I have had the pleasure of working with several CCIEs within my company and they have encouraged me to take the journey. The thing that I admire and have noticed about all of the CCIEs I worked with is, It is not that they are all powerful and know everything, but break things down in to simple steps and logical thinking, This is what I believe makes someone a CCIE. This is what I would aspire too. I take great pride in ensuring that anything I configure is done to the best of my ability. I enjoy learning new things, and if I can turn the learning in to a CCIE number then this an added bonus.

Also I believe that a CCIE is still the globally recognized accreditation and still sets the bar within networking Industry. This will give me additional opportunities and will allow me to increase my earning potential.

I would also like, if possible to use the knowledge gained during my R&S journey towards other CCIE tracks, possibly Security or Service Provider.

Obviously if i was lucky enough to be selected for the scholarship program this would be a massive help towards the CCIE, but if not i will continue as i have been.

Thanks In advance.

Regards,
Mark Dixon

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I hope some day to meet with these gentlemen because it would be great honors for me, it’s a dream I hope come true.

I begin studying Cisco with ccna course I didn't have luxury to take this course in training center like other people so I study this course by my self (self-study) it took me one year to pass the exam, I study everything by my self from scratch without help from any one, I was so proud for my achievement and I face a lot of problem one of them the language issue but I didn’t give up, So every day take some time to read Cisco books and practicing in packet tracer and Gns3 over and over again, until I save some money to take the exam and pass ccna exam with score of 943.

Unfortunately until now I work for institution in government sector as data entry, because there is no chance to work in any company or ISP and I don’t have any experience as they require experience to work for them, And When I found my colleagues in IT department don’t have any knowledge in Cisco equipment, I have tried a lot to move into IT department to change my career to networks field but there is no chance because of Favoritism, How much I felt disappointed when they ask a private company to solve a problem in our network, the problem was the network very slow and have high load on the switches, and so I was Curious. I want to see how the Cisco engineer will fix this problem, and when I see what he configure I can't believe it.

He just crate vlans and assign ports to these vlan that’s it, and for that my institution paid for him1000$ to configure some vlan oh my god. And when I ask my colleagues what he did, they didn’t know what he did and how it's so easy to configure this, I was very disappointed and I don’t know how I can change my career because I feel Wasting my time and my life for nothing but I will fight to the end to change this.

So I Made my decision to go for ccie certification, and it will be my chance to change my career so I begin to study ccnp material, and I skipped the ccnp exam, because I want to save 750$. But I fully understand the topics in this course so I moved on to the ccie level and start studying for ccie written exam.

After one year of studying and saving money , I scheduled the ccie written exam and pass with 970 score after I passed the written exam, I started to collect recommended list books to read and watch some videos to learn and implement what I learn in command line.

And I follow your extended blueprint and your blog for my journey to pass CCIE lab exam and until I Writing this letter, I finished the switching part theory and practice, but unfortunately I don’t have decent workbooks to do practice like your amazing workbooks, I used some labs in the internet but I think its not enough to pass the hardest exam in my life.

So when I check the material of your company on your website I felt your products its look like a gold mine of knowledge, but unfortunately when I see how much will cost me to purchase these workbooks and videos. I don’t know how I can explain to you how I feel about this situation it's very complicated. These product will cost me a fortune because my salary Barely 400$ in months and is Barely enough for me. I don't know how I can afford this cost and how I will save money to purchase your workbooks and your amazing videos because barely can to save some money to buy a voucher to schedule lab exam, I Hope this will change with your scholarship, even If I did not have enough money to complete my journey, I will fight to continue my journey to the end.

I will not stop and I will not Surrender, I will study every single day I don’t know what happen tomorrow I have a hope tomorrow will be better than yesterday so I will continue my journey of studying to the end.

When you announce the scholarship I felt so hopeful, Maybe this chance to change my life and overcome the difficulties Financial, and maybe someday my dream come true ,and get my id number. I hope you give me a chance to change my life and you will make a big difference in my life.

Sincerely,
Rami Abu Tarbush

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After diploma I know some IT functions and felds and continued researching the feld which I must specialize and I found my self a lot in the networking because I liked the slogan of Nokia Connecting People and I made my slogan inside me Networking Connecting Worlds.

I started my Networking Profession in 2003 after fnishing diploma as support technician for diferent Internet Café in my vicinity towns and cities for almost 3 years and become expert of setting up internet café with small switches and Microsoft ISA Server. At that time I known a much about networking special education and certifcation but problem remain same of afording the education while supporting my family as I had 5 dependants then.

Very luckily in April 2006 I was selected for a prestigious Saudi German Hospitals Group as computer operator and systems support for their Sana’a Yemen Hospital and rose to Network Admin then Network Engineer. Then I had a chance of meeting my both worlds the family support and education expense. As I already decided about my path to learn and grow so I started with Microsoft Technologies and earned MCSE in 2008 while practicing hands on in an enterprise infrastructure. After MCSE I started with Cisco and earned CCNP in late 2009 and started preparing for very advanced level networking course CCIE. I passed my written exam on 15th February, 2010. As you know CCIE is very expensive as compare to my previous exams and again I went through non matching expenses on continuing for CCIE Lab. I married in 2009 with a coworker of mine in Yemen and now I have two beautiful daughters with increased number of dependants to 8.

I remained so deep in CCIE love and I used to tell my wife about features how they work and listening a lot from me when we had our 1st daughter my wife gave her alias as ping. Any way with being so much in love with networking and getting certifed by networking industry’s most respected certifcation I managed to borrow to schedule the CCIE Lab in Dubai. After preparing on GNS3 I attempted on 2nd May, 2011 but I failed. I accepted an ofer in Dubai while I came over here for lab to save fying expenses for next lab and to be in place of opportunities in the struggle of career growth, but I didn’t new the expensive existence of Dubai. I am working as Network Engineer with TRU Technologies. I couldn’t aford to schedule for 2nd Lab, it’s very hard even to support my family and inside craving for CCIE. Today is May 1, 2012 and my lab scheduling date expired. Alas! Recession! I found my self no where and struggling for a better chance or luck once again.

I received your email late evening today and I didn’t receive my salary even. I sigh and bowed to my friend and borrowed to fll prepaid card to schedule the written once again as it’s your requirement for applying and getting scholarship.

Yours Pingly,
Rafque Ahmed Narejo

Mission and Vision:
I want to be most trusted, tested and verifed Network Expert in the region and known as point of start and rely till end for solutions and want to see colleagues, owners, mangers and technologists smiling for me and last but not least I want to earn better to comfort my family and I believe it starts with passing CCIE.

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I’ve spent my military career chasing the most difficult tasks. I’m currently a finalist on a very short list of eligible personnel to join a team that will transition the United States Air Forces in Europe networks onto the Air Force Network (AFNet). The AFNet will consolidate the base-centric communications model into one enormous Air Force enterprise network. This is an effort that I believe requires the skills of a CCIE.

As a CCIE, I would bring the highest level of technical expertise to mission planning in Europe and Africa across communications systems in different classifications. I would continue to guide project managers responsible for the oversight of those missions. I will also continue to liaise with vendors and personnel responsible for network hardware and software acquisitions in order to ensure we deploy the correct platforms given a very specific set of requirements. Those requirements widely vary, from legacy E-1 serial circuits in Italy to remote satellite uplinks from Africa to Metro-Ethernet access links in Germany. As a CCIE, I would also serve as a facilitator between junior technicians and senior leaders in order to translate operational requirements into technical solutions to effectively and positively impact military and humanitarian operations. It is those efforts and experiences I will contribute to the CCIE community, subject to non-disclosure agreements and security considerations. After all, what better forum for discussing complex network scenarios than the worldwide community of Internetwork Experts?

I started my networking career in May 2002 at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi where I earned the Air Force Specialty Code 3C2X1, commonly referred to as “Tech Control.” As a Tech Controller, my first assignment was to Fairchild AFB in Washington State where I became a network technician for a highly mobile team of network professionals responsible for building bare base communications in austere environments. We implemented voice and data networks over satellite links in order to support operations anywhere in the world. While assigned to Fairchild I started and finished my bachelor’s degree, graduating in 2006. After graduation, I turned my focus to pursuing Cisco certifications and in 2008 I obtained the CCNA certification. In 2010, I completed the CCNP and on May 1st, 2012, exactly ten years after I started my career in communications, I passed the CCIE written exam.

What kept me from training?
Several things kept me from training; or more accurately, delayed my training. Between 2006 and 2012 my family and I moved from Washington to Korea to Italy to Germany, where I currently serve. I’ve deployed twice in that ten-year span and traveled on many short, one to two week temporary duty assignments, or what the civilian sector might call business trips. I’ve also promoted through the Air Force ranks and achieved increased managerial responsibility commensurate with my rank. Despite those challenges, I continue to seek opportunities to expand my technical skills. I always have CiscoPress books with me. I built a small routing and switching lab at home based on the INE design and I continue to train at home when demands at work don’t allow time for it. The CCIE is a personal and professional goal I’ve set for myself. I have dedicated and will continue to dedicate the hours, weeks, months, years required to earn that certification. When I do certify, I will still pursue the most demanding network challenges and focus on my next expert level certification. Curiosity, a passion for networking, and personal drive push me to explore and to achieve. I think that’s the type of person that will benefit the global CCIE community in the years to come and that’s why I am asking INE to help me earn my first CCIE certification.

- Hector Garcia

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By obtaining the CCIE credential, I would be better suited to solve the complex problems that face Federal Agencies and their need to not only provide reliable network connectivity, but security as well. Federal Agencies, in my opinion, are deficient in qualified personnel capable on managing large enterprise networks. Having been involved with the DoD for some time now, having a CCIE would enable me to fill a void in a time in our history when we most need it.

Although I have been using Cisco products for many years, my formal certification training started in 2009 when I passed the CCNA exam. I soon followed this up with the completion of my CCNP in 2010 and successfully passing the CCIE written exam in 2010 and again in 2011. I made my first attempt at the CCIE lab in RTP, NC in January 2012 with unsuccessful results.

My training has consisted of many long hours on my home lab and self study training from INE. I have been unable to attend any formal training due to my current job and financial reasons. I have accrued enough personal leave time that I can now afford to travel to a guided training course, if I was chosen. In closing, I feel I would be an excellent candidate for the CCIE scholarship since it would provide me an opportunity to hone my networking skill set and help provide the U.S. forces fighting overseas with the best possible solutions.

Furthermore, I have moved up the Cisco certification pyramid solely based on self paced products from INE and time invested on my own home lab. Receiving this scholarship would allow me to piece all the technologies together and get over the last hurdle and allow me to be put in an elite class of network engineers.

Thank you and I appreciate your time.

Very Respectfully,
Jon Faranda

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After graduating, I gained employment at a Cisco consulting and training firm- where I currently work very closely with a 10 year CCIE R&S and a CCIE security. My experience working with these engineers has only further increased my desire to achieve the CCIE qualification, as they have always impressed me with their technical knowledge, not only in their particular disciplines but across all networking technologies.

Working for a Cisco learning partner has also given me the opportunity to achieve my CCNA, CCNP, ARSFE and AWLANFE certifications. I have also scheduled my final exam for CCIP for early June this year. In addition to this, I have achieved my CCSI certification and routinely teach CCNA bootcamps, as well as CCNP courses. As a result of the study I have completed to date, I constantly find opportunities to apply this new knowledge in my daily work, and I thrive on increasing my knowledge base. I have set myself the personal goal of achieving my CCIE certification, to validate my knowledge of Cisco networking, and ability to solve complex issues in a high pressure situation.

I believe that I would bring much strength to the networking field as a CCIE; particularly my willingness to share what I have learnt with others. I look forward to mentoring junior engineers in the way that I have been, and continue to be, mentored by the CCIE's with whom I work. I take great pride in successfully troubleshooting issues and creating simple designs that provide complex functionality, and I feel that my continued study paired with obtaining my CCIE will only improve these abilities.

My hope is that the knowledge gained in the pursuit of my CCIE will enable me to provide a more comprehensive service as a consultant. Combined with my technical skills, I also have strong interpersonal skills that lend themselves well to my teaching, teamwork and client engagements. The main limitation on my studies is that of the financial requirements of constructing a home lab, and purchasing books and training materials. I have a very supportive family with no dependents, and work as part of an excellent team of knowledgeable engineers, who assist me with my studies and career.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to apply for the INE scholarship program, and for your consideration of this application. I hope to speak with you in the near future.

Regards,
Dan Clark

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Thanks for giving me an opportunity to be part of CCIE learning. I heard lots of good stuff from 2 of my friends who used INE’s study material and attended few of yours conferences. They said INE’s CCIE study is just unbelievable. Both achieved their CCIE couple of years ago.

Why you need to be a CCIE?
My main aim is to be R&S CCIE certified because I want to distinguished myself from rest of the folks in my industry. I want to be equally respected and praised as CCIE by our company management. Well I can’t ignore money factor as well, in our industry CCIEs are very well paid and offered stable job. No doubt studying for CCIE will not only increase my knowledge exponentially but also teach me more techniques to design networks and solve network problems. So for better salary, stability, industry recognition and knowledge I want to pursue first CCIE certification. This will be my first CCIE certification R&S and my aim is to get 2 more CCIE certifications in Voice and security, so that I place myself on better position in my industry.

What strengths would you bring as CCIE to the field?
I have 15 years of successful industry experience in many IT companies, which brought me rich and diverse knowledge of IT systems. I never give up on my tasks, no matter how difficult the problem or leading path is. I solve problem in quick and effective way. I will bring positive attitude, very hardworking, persistent, in depth technical and forward looking engineer to the field.

Where you started in networking and where you are now?
I started in Computer industry as trainee computer support engineer after passing out university, after 6 months I was promoted as support engineer then system engineer. I achieved many industry certifications like MCP, MCSE, CNE, CLP etc during late 90s. After working in computer industry for 4 years, I decided to join networking field and about 10 years ago I joined as network support engineer on 6 months fixed term contract. After seeing my problem solving capability and enthusiasm, my employer offered me permanent position as network engineer. Next couple of years I worked hard to achieve CCNA, CCNP, CCDP, CCVP and many Cisco partner based certifications. After working tirelessly few years and sharpening my skill I was promoted as Senior Network engineer and then Data Communications Engineer and now as Senior Consultant in Data products and services. If I look back, I see came a long way but not that much I which I hoped. I am hoping to be CTO of industry leading company. I think after achieving my 3 goals of CCIEs, will place me on a candidate list where I can lead my company technically and can take quick and effective decisions as CTO.

What circumstances kept you from training?
I probably say strong commitment to deliver 100% on every project, I couldn’t find enough time to study for CCIE. Now I have spoken with management and got their full support to pursue my CCIE dream. Second factor which kept me away from my dream was starting up family. Now my both kids (9 and 4 years old) are grown up to age where I can give more time for my CCIE study. The other factor and probably the most important factor is “funding”, I had lack of fund to build lab and invest in training. Now I build my own Cisco CCIE lab at home which I can use for practise and if I win scholarship from INE then it will be like dream come true. Now if INE give me scholarship then I wouldn’t have any excuse to defer my CCIE study any longer. Please consider my entry and give me a chance to take this extra-large step to take my career to another height.

- Harsh Kumar

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I have been one of the hundreds of benefciaries, allowing me to receive a scholarship to study a technical career and have the opportunity to receive university education. I in particular I feel very identifed with this cause and since 2005 I've committed to continue providing opportunities for many more people; in the year 2008 I became one of the frst instructors of Cisco Networking Academy in my country and my institution. I love to teach and work in Networking.

Why you need to be a CCIE?
I need to be a CCIE because for me it is a dream professional goal and magnifcent, I also want my institution has someone with advanced knowledge in Networking, to teach and to fnish shaping a company that gives employment opportunities in Networking to some low-income unemployed youths.

What strengths would you bring as CCIE to the field?
Currently I I work primarily in the education and small Networking projects, but be CCIE I would involve myself in projects big and complex challenges in the industry that I love to solve.

Where you started in networking and where you are now?
I start in Networking at the age of 14, when my dad got a used computer, always excited me knowing everything about computers since then. After I got scholarship to study and I was taught for the frst time a network, it was only at the level of theory because we had no computers and network, since this date I decide study the theory of computer and learn networking in self-study, my frst goal was to get the CCNA certifcation, then I decided to become a CCIE, I got a job doing small networks and after two years saving I could pay the CCNA certifcation exam, in 2008, then Foundation Kinal ofered me work as instructor of Cisco Networking Academy in CCNA courses, since then I have put hard efort to certify me of CCNP, CCIP, CCIE written exam.

After saving three years I can buy the workbooks I and II of INE for CCIE R&S. In December of last year, my institution got to me through the Institute for University Cooperation, of Italian - ICU-, www.icu.it, resources that I could make an attempt for the CCIE Lab in Brussels, Belgium. I reprobe the lab exam, I felt a little disappointed and concerned because I disappoint all the people who believed in me, however encouraged me to go ahead and not give me up, so again I'm studying and saving for a new try.

It is a career magnifcent, I love Networking and I love to teach Networking. My characteristic is try to never giving up, and search a diferent way to do the things.

- Gabriel Tuquer

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I am a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration by FEA/USP COLLEGE – São Paulo, Brazil, and I am MBA in Technological Innovations by LARC/USP – São Paulo, Brazil.

I started in networking in 2000. At that time I worked as project analyst for a Cisco partner. My main tasks were, network support, troubleshooting (routers, switches and access points) and administration of 300+ multi-company users. At that year I achieved my CCNA.

From 2001 to 2007, I worked as a telecommunication analyst for an IT services company. My main activities were network management, installation, configuration, support and troubleshooting on multiple networks from clients with as many as 12,000 network devices. Usual tasks included: troubleshooting connectivity and performance issues for local and remote networks (LAN, WAN, WLAN), network analysis using protocol analyzers (snifer). During this period I achieved the following certifications: CCDA (2001), CCNP (2002) and CCDP (2003).

From 2008 to present, I have being working as network engineering at a global technology services corporation, developing activities like plan, define, design, configure and deploy network projects. I have had global projects experience by working directly with virtual teams located on diferent countries, continents and time zones, and interaction with multi-task teams like operations, engineering, firewall, servers and field services. In the meantime, I got the following certifications: CCIP (2008) and CCNA Wireless (2011).

Lack of resources prevents me from taking training classes. INE scholarship will be a proven ally to support my studies and to ease the process of getting technology expertise. It would be an honor to get trained by experienced instructors and with outstanding quality materials.

Yours Sincerely,
Silvia Reis Don Fai

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I have been gradually upgrading my strengths by acquiring certifications regularly. CCNA, CCVP and various Cisco specialized certification were achieved on the way which improved my work and ability. And I expect the same with CCIE. While preparing one covers great many topics and follows a comprehensive study plan to enhance knowledge about the technology. Currently I am counseling university students in their projects and would like to develop my role to a professional trainer. In future I see myself as a technical trainer and consultant and CCIE certification will give me a leap towards in achieving excellence. I believe in the saying that with great power come greater responsibility and CCIE is the most powerful certification of industry and as a responsible CCIE I would help and train future aspirants to achieve their goals.

I started my career as an intern and have climbed the ladder of professional excellence by being persistent and working hard. My efforts are also contributing significantly in correcting both the gender as well cultural diversity as the percentage of females in technical side is significantly low all around the globe and in Pakistan a rarity. I had to prove myself in every stand and put in extra efforts to be accepted. Progress has been slow but significant and now I lead a team of more than 10 resources serving as a layer-3 support for Unified communications and Unified Contact Center. My primary responsibility is in Unified Contact Center Enterprise solution/support and CCIE voice is closest certification that complements my work experience.

There were and still are many constraints, but they have not deterred me from preparing for Lab, I am trying my best to utilize all resources in my means to practice and prepare but I know they are falling short so I am still hanging in and preparing. Top most issue is financial constraint I have limited means and saving for Lab fee first is on top. This scholarship will provide me with an opportunity to train and gear myself for lab exam besides helping me achieve my objective.

To sum up all I have cleared my written exam two months back and now have 16 months at maximum to attempt for lab. I am preparing for it by all means and would appreciate any help that comes along.

I am eagerly looking forward to a positive reply.

Best regards,
Samreen Fatima

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As an individual who thrives on positive challenges, I am anxiously looking forward to successfully completing the certification requirements and receiving my CCIE Voice certificate. My ultimate ambition though is to become a multiple CCIE, with particular interests on the Routing & Switching and Security tracks.

My primary motivation for the CCIE Voice certification, is an earnest desire to attain the highest level of technical competency as a Voice and Unified Communications engineer, capable of resolving the most challenging assignments in a dynamic technology environment. My second motivation for this certification is to provide an assurance to potential employers about my skill level. I am convinced that as a CCIE Voice, employers can easily validate my technical credibility, my potential to promote the financial value of their products and services, as well as my commitment to learning new technologies and maintaining the CCIE status.

One of the greatest contributions I will bring to the CCIE field is a rigorous commitment to maintaining the standard of the certification by producing “CCIE-quality” output throughout my professional career as a Unified Communications Engineer. This implies amongst other things, the exceptional ability to translate high-level client requirements into low-level implementation tasks that can be performed efficiently. In addition, my passion and enthusiasm towards embracing new technologies in Voice and Unified Communications would be a most valuable asset for me as a representative of CCIEs. A good example of such upcoming technologies, is the Cisco Call Control Discovery feature which I believe holds much promise for the future of DN advertising and learning in Voice and Unified Communications networks.

I entered the world of computer networks 10 years ago when I worked as a system engineer in a cybercafé. Although my exposure was brief and limited to the periphery of TCP/IP networking, a hunger for more was created. Three years ago, upon completing my MSc. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, I worked as an intern under the Network and Telecoms team of a premier African financial institution supporting approximately 2000 employees in its headquarters alongside 48 remote sites. Under this position, I developed better understanding of practical computer networking, and also understood that certification-level proficiency was highly relevant to the successful administration of both data and voice networks. Four months into my internship, and under three months of self-study, I received my CCNA certification. I followed this up 2 months later with the 642-436 CVOICE exam and received the CCNA Voice certification having already decided to pursue a CCIE in the Unified Communications track. However, due to my low income, I had inadequate funds for buying or renting practice equipment. This forced me to temporarily discontinue studies for the CCNP/CCIE Voice exams.

I resorted to pursuing the CCNP Routing and Switching Certification, using GNS3 router simulation software combined with downloaded Cisco Press Study Guides. In 2011, I swimmingly fulfilled the CCNP R&S Certification requirements, but that could not quench my desire for the CCIE Voice certification. After multiple assessments of the resources needed and some financial assistance from a kind benefactor, I worked out a study plan to achieve my CCIE Voice certification. Since my major constraint to taking the CCIE exam was an insufficiency of financial resources, I decided to skip the five CCNP Voice certification exams as a cost-cutting measure and go straight for the CCIE Voice. I used the funds to purchase CCIE Voice self-study materials and rack rental tokens from Internetwork Experts. In April 2012, I passed my CCIE Voice written exam and I am currently in the next phase of preparation for the CCIE Voice Lab exam.

Though I am presently unable to afford INE's highly rated CCIE Voice 10 day boot-camps, and I do not know where the funds to register for my exam will come from, I am ready for this challenge, confident of my motivations, convinced of what I have to offer the CCIE world and unwilling to give up this dream. I believe the INE Scholarship will help me accomplish it successfully.

- Toritseju Okpotse

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Technology was rapidly changing and we played catch-up slowly replacing the kit with Cisco switches and routers culminating with me earning my first Cisco certification (CCNA) in 2002. Ten years down the road, I’m still chasing my first CCIE (I say first because I don’t intend to stop). Things took a bad turn in the country making it economically hard to survive, let alone continue professional development. In the end I was forced to emigrate with my family to Namibia in 2007.

My personal resources could not match my study ambitions with immediate family needs growing add that to support for the extended family back in Zimbabwe. Thanks to my new company where I’m a Network Architect, I resumed studies and managed to earn CCIP status and began the long journey destination CCIE number. I am booked for the mobile CCIE R&S lab exam in September 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. My present duties and responsibilities include designing customer solutions, providing support for the core network (BGP, MPLS VPNs, OSPF, ISIS, MetroE and broadband technologies Wimax/ADSL/EVDO) and guiding new trainees through their jobs.

I always had a passion for Voice having worked in a Central office and later on, on PBX systems. I would like to further my knowledge in this field as I’m witnessing the legacy “hard PBX” with line cards and distribution frames being replaced by soft switches. I still recall the days when the system was of and no one could make a call. When I arrived at a site, I headed for the dark and dirty wiring closet in the building basement and when I emerged a few minutes later with service restored, everyone thought I was “cool”. Of course they didn’t know that I just pulled out the controller card, waited a little while for the capacitors to discharge and pushed it back in!

I want to challenge myself to attain nothing but the best which is CCIE. Africa really needs skilled professionals who can meet the challenges of this rapidly changing world and shape the future. The CCIE Voice certification will go a long way towards contributing to that cause. Being an ardent believer in sharing, (knowledge included), I do part-time lecturing and am a Certified Cisco Academy Instructor (CCAI). This comes from a deep sense of frustration I experienced in making a transition to the ICT world. I had very little mentorship and guidance – there were very few knowledgeable techies at that time and place – and the access to the internet was very poor and limited. I therefore struggled with the basics and feel obliged to help the younger generation make a smoother transition into IT careers. Therefore, if I succeed in getting the CCIE Voice scholarship, the benefit will not only end with me.

Yours faithfully,
Enoch Nyatoti

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