Philippines – National Computer Center
Jupiter Nacario
Graduate Student in Law and Engineering
I am a Chemical Engineer presently taking the CCNA Program concurrent with Law School. My friends tell me that these three do not rhyme well, but I beg to differ. I guess I still have not lost my appetite for knowledge - access to information is the key to competence and survival. Engineers need to keep pace with the latest trends in the sciences and technology; and legal research is the lifeblood in Law studies. In both, networks and internetworks help accomplish tasks effectively and with great facility.
It was on these occasions that Networking, as an indispensable utility, began to interest me. The idea of data being exchanged at great speeds between users from distant parts of the globe, made possible by the intricately interwoven networks that form the Worldwide Web allowing easy communication and access to information, never ceased to fascinate me.
For this reason, the introduction of the CCNA Program in the Philippines – instituted by Cisco, the reputed name in Networking - is a welcomed program for me. In this “information age”, understanding networks and internetworks is essential, if not indispensable, unless one concedes to be left out. And this holds true, as well, with regard to third world (developing) countries such as ours. If we hope to prosper, together with the rest of the world, we must stay “connected” and play our part in the “information superhighway”, partaking in intellectual intercourse and availing ourselves of the extensive information resource waiting to be adopted where applicable. And accordingly, we must share the burden of responsibility in safeguarding the net from cyber crimes that may be perpetrated – so much for the seemingly estranged fields of Networking and Law.
I especially like the fact that the CCNA Program has a very focused, no-nonsense curriculum. The four-semester curriculum concentrates on the in-depth study of networking. Semester 1 provides an adequate overview of the whole of Networking. This proved helpful in Semester 2 where there were unavoidable references to concepts still to be treated later in the program. These references could have made understanding difficult were it not for the background provided by Semester 1. And the use of computerized on-line evaluation is so objective, fair and credible allowing for minimal human intervention.
In all, I recommend the program to anyone who wants to be educated or, better yet, embark on a career in Networking. I look forward to completing the program and hopefully passing the certification exam thereon. I am keeping an open mind to pursuing a career in this direction trusting that the program will have equipped me by then with a decent proficiency in the field.