Exam Day: The Second Attempt That Changed Everything

Three months. Not a single day off since buying that cursed CCNA voucher. This was it - my second attempt. Everything I had built, everything I had learned, came down to this moment.

The Morning Of

Before building the app, I had filled a huge notebook - almost every word from Jeremy's course, written by hand. Pages and pages of concepts, commands, configurations.

I smoked one more cigarette with Cosmin and had one last sip of coffee. Cosmin was another one of those guys who encouraged me all the way through the process. Every time I needed a nice word, he was there. And the best thing - he never put pressure on me.

"You can't fall more than on the ground, and you can't fall up either."
— Cosmin

I have to mention three names: Mihai, Cosmin, and Ion. These three guys were beside me the entire road. Thank you.

The Journey to the Testing Center

I took the subway from work. Of course, I didn't go back to the same testing center - there are quite a few to choose from in my city, and I wasn't about to face that supervisor again.

On the subway, I went through my notes about automation - a chapter where all you have to do is learn concepts, no lab configuration needed. Underlay, overlay, southbound, northbound... Things were clear from the quiz practice, but some details still needed refreshing.

I arrived 30 minutes early. But waiting was the smallest problem. I was terrified of that moment when the computer would be on, and I'd have to choose answers without the option of going back. CCNA, unlike some other exams, doesn't let you return to previous questions.

The Door Closes

The door closed behind me. First screen came up - some information about the exam. Close to starting, you get routine practice questions.

First one: "How many meters are in a kilometer?" Just to get you comfortable with the interface. I chose the answer and pressed Next.

Second screen: a drag-and-drop practice question. I dragged, I dropped, I pressed Next.

Trust me - if you're not Bruce Willis, you have a ton of emotions running through you at this point.

The Third Click

I pressed Next the third time. A white screen came up. Actually, it was split in two - left side white, right side black.

"Nice," I thought. "So you get used to the lab screen." I remembered this is how the labs looked from my first attempt.

I pressed Next again.

Another similar screen appeared. Now I didn't know what was happening anymore... and suddenly I noticed some tabs on the left side. Pressing on them, I discovered one tab had the lab topology image, and another had the lab requirements.

In my mind: nothing. Complete blank.

Then it hit me - this WAS a lab. The exam had started. No more practice screens.

The Labs Begin

I had been notified at the start: 4 labs and 68 questions. So I started configuring.

First lab - done in 3-4 minutes. I was kind of grateful to Cisco for not starting with the hardest lab like my first attempt. NEXT!

Second lab - VLANs and voice VLAN. Also very easy. 2-4 minutes. NEXT!

Third lab - OSPF, my favorite. No more than 3 minutes. NEXT!

I was so anxious to see the last lab. The heavy one hadn't come yet. For two days, I had prepared only for that monster lab - the one with extended ACLs, DHCP, NAT, SSH version 2, everything combined.

I was ready for it. NEXT!

HORROR

And... the regular questions began.

I started shaking.

I realized I had messed up. Started counting on the draft board the labs I'd completed, hoping my memory was wrong. But still - only 3.

Where was the fourth lab?

Desperately, I was looking at the screen for a button to go back, knowing at the same time that I didn't have this option. I stayed stunned for another 2 minutes, not knowing what to do.

At one point, I wanted to call the supervisor, hoping to restart the exam. In those long, short 2 minutes, I gave up on that thought.

That is it.

Moving Forward

So I started answering the questions. One by one.

And something strange happened. Concepts and answers were coming to my mind like I was the one who had written the questions. Over 70% of them were questions I had practiced with CertAce.

One after another. Question after question. The panic about the missing lab faded as I fell into a rhythm.

With almost an hour before the finish time - a huge amount of time compared to my first attempt - I was done.

The Button

So here I was, pressing the fatality button: END EXAM.

I didn't even realize I was finished. I had been so prepared for most of the questions that I was in race mode, just executing.

I started reading what was in front of my eyes.

I didn't even realize at first that I read "Congratulations!"

I was so concentrated, like a tennis player who keeps serving after he's already won the game.

Then, suddenly, I saw it:

"You have passed CCNA certification."

I believe I read it 5 to 10 times, just to make sure I wasn't mistaken.

The Release

And there it was. I started to cry.

A big, old, bald man. 48 years old. Started holding his face between his palms, crying like a teenager.

It was so much pressure. So much tension accumulated over three months. Nothing mattered anymore. All the effort had a happy ending.

The labs I was so worried about? They weren't there to destroy me. The questions I had practiced over and over? They showed up like old friends.

And the fourth lab that never came? To this day, I don't know if it was a glitch, if I somehow skipped it without realizing, or if the exam just decided to be merciful. I don't care anymore.

I passed.

The Math Behind How Close It Was

Later, analyzing what happened, I realized something terrifying: I had accidentally skipped the first lab.

Remember when I pressed "Next" thinking it was just another practice screen? That wasn't a practice screen. That was the first lab - and in CCNA, the first lab is typically the highest-weighted item, carrying 15-20% of the entire exam score.

I literally skipped one of the single most valuable scoring items in the entire exam.

The cold math:
• Skipped lab value: ~12-16% of raw score
• My final score: ~860/1000
• Passing threshold: 825/1000
• Buffer after losing ~100-120 points: only +35 points

I passed with a +35 point buffer, even after accidentally throwing away 100+ points.

What does this mean? If I add back the points I lost from the skipped lab, my actual knowledge level was probably around 92-95%. The exam recorded ~80%, but that's because of my mistake, not my knowledge.

The CertAce practice - those 64 quizzes in the final week, the 70%+ questions I recognized from my own app - that's what saved me. My theoretical knowledge was strong enough to compensate for accidentally sabotaging myself on the highest-value item.

What I Learned

Looking back at this entire journey - the failure, the family pressure, building CertAce, the second attempt - here's what I know now:

• Watching videos is not enough. You need to test yourself.
• Knowing your weak spots is more valuable than practicing what you already know.
• The people who support you matter. Find your Ion, your Cosmin, your Mihai.
• Failure isn't the end - it's information about what needs to change.
• Building something to solve your own problem is the most powerful form of learning.
• Read every screen carefully. Even if you think it's just a practice question.

CertAce exists because I needed it. And if it can help even one person avoid the mistakes I made, or recover from the failures I experienced, then every late night, every cigarette in the kitchen, every moment of doubt was worth it.

🎯 This is why CertAce exists.