SkillsTrain A+ Course

I recentley signed up to study the A+ and N+/MCSE course aged 52. I am an electrician by trade but come on lets be honest, it was years since I studied and attened college. Yes once I started I thought ....... whoops what have I taken on here. But wow, what a clever way of working and studying.
I've now completed 3 assignments, two I have had responces to and one is pending. Touch wood, results are good so far.
My life is not exactly hectic socialy but I travel most weeks on average 700 to 1000 miles comissioning fire alarm systems in comms rooms throughout the uk and europe, so my study time is limited to aircraft seats or motorway service areas.
Now as a mature student, and having to keep abreast of technology within my employment, I found it hard at first to make the time to follow the syllabus, and to be honest I did consider calling it off, but hey, as it says on the tin, I learn at my own pace and I really think Im doing well.
I'm a one parent family, although my youngest are twin girls (21) now, so holidays etc have come into play. But yes Im finding a routine and, dare I say it, Im proud of what Im doing and hopefully ( fingers crossed ) two years from now I will be changing employment into the world of I.T.

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I have been doing full time voluntry work with the british heart foundation from 9am to 4pm every week day then coming home doing house work etc and feeding my 2 children plus doing my studying of the night time every day. Not only have I been doing all this but on my last assignment I somehow managed to get a %100 percent mark which I am very proud of. hopefully I can continue getting good marks and get a good job out of this training so I can give my 2 children a comfortable life when they eventualy finish school.

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THIS MONTH I HAVE COMPLETED TWO TMA ALSO I HAVE SET UP MY OWN COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCES BY MY SELF WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE GAINED FROM THIS COURSE SO FAR .IT MAY NOT SOUND A LOT TO SOME PEOPLE BUT FOR MY SELF IT IS A GREAT ACHIVEMENT.

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I have recently completed the first book on my Cisco course program and am very pround of the fact that I maintained an average of over 90% in my Tutor Marked Assighments.

I take pride in the achievement due to the difficult circumstances I have found myself in. My mother in law has recently had to undergo two very big operations due to cancer, this meant various long journeys to Basingstoke and Cheltnem from South Wales. It was also a very stressful time for my Wife as one could imagine.

I also work very long hours, on average around 55hrs per week. So bearing all this in mind I once again reiterate my pride in my accomplishments thus far.

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I have a small knowledge of IT, but I have been helping a small computer company with their work in most of my spare time which has helped me improve my knowledge. This has included the following work : Replacing switches to improve network performance, adding or replacing memory modules in PC's, network cards, and adding SCSI cards to Small Business Servers. Also with the work that I have studied through Skillstrain, plus the extra knowledge I have now, I managed to work out and fix a computer, which was a very satisfying achievement.
I have also sorted out four family & friends computers from securing a wireless network, putting in an internal USB hub, graphics gard, memory to getting them onto the interent and explaining how to use it.
Over all I am very pleased to what I have achieved so far through my studying and the work that I have been doing as it has proved to me that I can do it.

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Well what can I say if it's having been said in Success Stories, I read some of them and they are all true? Learn when you can. I try to read the book in my dinner hour, Sometimes I need to read the page 2 to 3 times to understand it. Why not iv got the time and when I get home get strata on the PC then on the www and fined more info about what your learning. There's nothing on the www that you cannot find out. If you need help you've got skillstran but if you find out something on the www you will feel more pleased because YOU have done it yourself. If you forget something and you remember it that you have seen it in the book you can go back on it and read it again.

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I AM NOT CURRENTLY EMPLOYED IN THE IT INDUSTRY BUT HAVE MANAGED TO PASS MY COMPTIA A+ AND NETWORK+ FIRST TIME.

I AM CURRENTLY HALF WAY THROUGH CCNA INTRO WITH SCORES AS GOOD AS 100% AT TIMES.

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Just started the CCNA part of the course this month (July) after completing A+ and N+ (all within a year) and working as well. Sat the CompTIA A+ public exam and passed well.
Did find that part of the course a bit easier to handle because of the printed course material.
I used to take relevant pages to work and can study during spare periods including luchtime.
I find the CCNA part more challenging since it requires hours behind the PC to read the online material from Cisco Academy.
However, just within the firt half of this month, I have managed to complete the first two TMA assignments and just finished the online module 2 exam with a mark of 87.2% (having obtained 100% in module 1).
Looks like long hours in the night for some time but I'll keep up the pace!

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By doing this course I have been able to achieve a greater understanding of how to build a computer and also installing various peripherals and internal components.

I also feel that I have achieved my ambition to be able to work again, either in the Technology field or helping others to acheive their true potential.

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I started this course in January. I can't beleive I have so much confidence using my IT skills now.

I am really happy with all knowledge I acquired.

Thanks to skillstrain tutors for helping me get through.

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I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET A 2 MONTH IT CONTRACT WITH AN IT COMPANY AS A JUNIOR DESK SUPPORT PERSONNEL. I HAVE STEADILY PROGRESSED WITH MY COURSE WITH SKILLS TRAIN. THROUGH MY IT COMPANY I HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO MORE EXPERIENCED PERSONNEL SOME OF WHOM HAVE INSPIRED ME TO FOCUS ON MY IT CAREER.

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I have finished the first part of A+ and I can say that I am very happy with the way it all went. I feel like I have learned a lot of new things and it was fairly easy. I am looking forword to the next part of the course and the other courses as well.

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First of all, before I started this course I didn't know anything about hardware, but now I can make backups of my laptop and apart from that, I now know much about PCs. I can connect my laptop to Internet without anybody helping me.

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