Yesterday morning was thrown into disarray by a simple email.

Twenty days of replaying possible answers, pondering if I’d done enough and what I’d have to do if I failed came to a screeching stop. Jeff Frisk, Director of GIAC, notified me I’d passed the GSE practical exam and was now a GSE. Relief, joy and a perverse disbelief forced me to re-read the email a number of times just to confirm I had actually passed. I’m also delighted to announce that my classmates Doug Burks, Mike Cardoza, Jim Clausing, Vishal Hariprasad, Seth Misenar and Guy Bruneau are also GSEs.

I put a lot of hard work, effort and study in to achieving a pass on these exams, and despite the title of GIAC Security Expert (GSE) I’m not nearly foolish enough to call myself an expert. This is a phenomenal starting point to continue to develop, grow and learn.

With all the serious stuff aside, it was time to celebrate. With all this healthy mind and body stuff to keep focused, I had avoided my normal sweet tooth cravings over these last months. Well, it was time to blow that out of the water. This first thing to do was hit the shops and buy two tubs of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, followed by hand made chocolates and freshly baked bread.

I spent the day reading a normal book, sitting outdoors in the sunlight and fresh air, stuffing my face. The sweet taste of success!

Thanks and acknowledgement to Mike Poor, Mark Hofman, John Strand, Bryce Galbraith, Steve Sims and Eric Conrad for providing advice, abuse, guidance, support and inspiration whenever I cornered them. They did this unconditionally, answering my questions and offering suggestions; all without making me feel a complete idiot for asking in the first place and making it simple to understand. The true hallmarks of exceptional teachers.

A last piece of heartfelt thanks goes to my friends and family that had to put up with my constant study, staring at computers day and night and listening to wild rants on why things didn’t go as planned.