After a tragic lapse in testing, I finally managed to finish off my MCSD.NET certification today. I, like so many before me, got bit by the 70-300 bug. My first attempt at the test back in February sent me home with tears and a grade just not good enough to call me certified. I rolled onto a project shortly thereafter, and the steam went out of the study engine.
After some soul searching and recommendations from colleagues, I picked up the Exam Cram book from Que. I was a bit forlorn when I picked up the book last Friday. Every tech person in Denver knows about SoftPro Books. It's THE place to go for tech books when you don't have time to wait. I slap the book on the counter and the attendant gives me a half hearted, "finishing up that old certification, huh?" How rude! I knew I was running a little behind, but OLD!!!??? To pour salt on the wounds, I discovered SoftPro even removed the book from their website when I tried to link to it above. Tears of unfathomable sadness. In any case, the book along with the Transcender exams helped flesh out (and in many cases degrade) my knowledge so that I could pass the exam.
So while this is a happy day that I can kick the dust of the old certs off my boots and look ahead to the new (or I should say newer) stuff, I still can't help but feel like it was all for naught. I like to think I walked away with some knowledge gained, but in the end I feel like I just crammed for each test just enough so I could pass it. Well, on to the MCPD upgrade exams! Hopefully I'll complete them before someone calls me grandpa.