Believing in Oneself is Important

Today was the first test in my Fundamentals of Networking class.  I studied as much as possible since the last class on Thursday; although the material spanned only two chapters, it was accompanied with a large amount of material and approximately 180 new terms that were new to me.  The test turned out to be a 20 question true/false exam, of which I'm sure I passed nevertheless.  While there were a few questions I wasn't 100% sure about, I checked my answers after the class and was pleased to see my answers chosen were accurate.  I'm excited to see what my final grade is.

I've come up with a study plan for my A+ exam.  I intend to finish studying by November 25th, and test in December.  My Network+ class at school ends in early December so I hope to take that exam around that time as well.  My professor announced that he would be happy to give us the CCNA exam study guides he happened to have, so I plan on bringing a flash drive next class to acquire them.  That would be very awesome to get a CCNA at some point.  The CCIE is an elite certification that would be the icing on the cake, but I understand it is extremely difficult to master.  I have a belief in myself though, that I can do and understand anything I put my mind to, so the more anyone tells me that it would be difficult to obtain or nearly impossible to understand, the more drive I have to pursue it.

This is how I have always lived my life.  From demanding to be added to the correct band class to learn oboe because they insisted it would be too difficult (which I ended up excelling at, winning many competitions and continued playing for 6 years), to making the bassline of the drumline in my highschool marching band because I was told I was not a percussionist and would therefore be unable to do it (which of course I was superb at this as well), and sticking with my algebra class when statistics say 60% of students that did not recently finish a math class fail or withdraw - I am determined to be in the 40% that remain in the class, and also pass with flying colors.  So far I am doing just fine.

I am not intentionally trying to brag about any accomplishments I may have made, but simply acknowledge the fact that my natural mindset is competitive and to do what I am told I cannot do.  At least, as long as I believe I can do it - that is the important part.

For example, if someone said I would be unable to skateboard, rollerskate, etc, I would agree, because I don't believe I can do it, and therefore can't.  I have very poor balance and would likely fail a walk-the-line "drunk test" by an officer while sober, so balancing on wheels is out of the question.  However, when it comes to having the mental capabilities of learning something new (and specifically not involving balance) I am fully confident in my ability to do it, given the opportunity.

I look forward to reading the next chapter for class, and continuing learning about the material for my A+ test.  We'll see what happens next.