--- title: Studying for the CCNA date: 2023-10-01 20:15:00 -500 categories: [CCNA, certifications, studying] tags: [CCNA, cisco, studying] --- # 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](https://www.flackbox.com/) video course and labs. It's a really good resource but for me personally it was not enough. I found [Jeremy McDowell's](https://www.jeremysitlab.com/) 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. ![OCG1](https://github.com/PostOakLab/assets/blob/master/ccnaosg1.JPG?raw=true) ![OCG2](https://github.com/PostOakLab/assets/blob/master/ccnaosg2.JPG?raw=true) 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](https://boson.com/) ExSim, both incredibly helpful. So yeah, hopefully after reviewing for the next couple weeks I will be able to pass this test!