The starting point
I'm a college student working toward an associate's degree in Network Management. I work full-time outside of IT, and my goal is to break into networking and eventually land a NOC or network related role.
I chose the CCNA because I wanted a strong foundation, not just a line on a resume. It's the certification employers actually recognize. I knew it would challenge me, but I also knew it was the thing that would open the door.
I started studying in January 2026 with Jeremy's IT Lab. The content is excellent, no question about that. But I wasn't retaining what I needed to from long-form video lectures alone. That was the frustrating part: putting in a lot of hours, then not feeling confident any of it was sticking. There were times when the sheer amount of CCNA material felt overwhelming.
What made it click
I found PingMyNetwork through LinkedIn. People kept posting about it and sharing their progress on the platform, so eventually I decided to check it out for myself.
What made the difference was how interactive it was. Instead of watching and hoping the information stayed, I was doing things. It kept me engaged and reinforced the concepts far better than video alone.
Spanning Tree Protocol is where it really showed. STP had not been sticking for me at all. I'd gone through it in video form and the concepts just didn't land. When I got to the STP section on PingMyNetwork, the explanations felt simpler and I could finally follow them. That topic went from a blind spot to something I understood.
How long it took
About seven months in total. I started in January 2026 and passed my CCNA in early August 2026. March is when I started using PingMyNetwork seriously.
The moment I passed
Relief, mostly. Even after all the studying and all the practice exams, I still didn't feel ready walking in. Seeing PASS was the confirmation I hadn't been able to give myself.
My advice
Stay consistent, lab, and do practice exams. But the important part is what comes after the practice exam: review your mistakes thoroughly. Figure out whether you missed a question because you didn't know the concept, misread it, or simply forgot a detail. Those are three different problems with three different fixes. That review process is where a lot of the learning happens.
Next for me is landing my first role in tech, something entry-level like helpdesk support. Then CCNP, after a few years of working in IT.