Calculating...A Network Student 5 Months In

Well second semester is in full swing here at MATC. There's a few changes this time around. I'm taking one of my classes online and along with this horrible excuse of a beard I've been growing this winter, I've got around a 16 credit load to deal with. I'm taking A+, Cisco2: Routing Protocols, Microsoft Office, Sociology, and Microsoft Server 1.

At the beginning of the semester I made one big change. I bought zero books before I got to the class to hear from my teachers about what we really would be using throughout the semester. I found this saved me a lot more money because I refrained from buying books that were either available digitally or were not mandatory. And when you are scrambling to find money to buy each and every book, it's nice to know the ones that maybe you don't need.  I ordered most of what I needed on the cheap from Amazon and had a friend willing to give me one of his old textbook! (Thanks +Karl Eslit) So, while it left me far less prepared and scrambling for books when school started, I saved a lot more money that last semester. Allowing me to buy cool toys like my new Raspberry Pi!


I've had limited fun time with the Pi due to the fact that when I bought it (over winter break) I was pretty much busy with the Network+ exam and then school started. But I have been able to turn it into a working web server. I haven't registered a domain name for it yet but when I do I'll be sure to post it.

My online class for Microsoft Office is an interesting experience. The class requires a bit of self discipline since I don't have to go to an actual class to get my assignments. There's also only one deadline (at the end of the semester) for all of the assignments. So if I weren't careful I could find myself near the end with entirely  too much work to do. As of now I dedicate about 4 hours every Tuesday at home to this course. I'm not gonna lie, its nice getting to do some work with in my PJ's with some music blasting in the background as the empty cereal bowls pile up around my monitor. There's no place like home!

All in all though, everything is going pretty smoothly. I wish Sociology didn't vie for so much control of my time and energy. I mean hey,  I could be learning about Variable Length Subnet Masking or Domain Controller Trust Policies instead, right?

Plans for the future: Get farther ahead in Cisco, I want to be prepared for my CCNA. Find more time to watch more CBTnuggets. It's like a precious resource to me, I can't stop watching them! Be patient with Active Directory, sometimes AD makes me want to go crazy but I'm starting to tame that beast. Get a little jump start in VMware ESXi. Heck....maybe I'll even shave too!