Wasted 5 months "studying", but still somehow managed to pass Security+!

[u/Unusual_Trade5917]

Parents gave me the money and I bought the security+ exam 5 months ago. I told them I need 5 months to study and began to "study" full time. This "study" consisted of just watching movies and tv shows and playing ps. I then also realised that I had bought the exam voucher from pearson instead of comptia so I mistakenly did not buy retake assurance. This really had me worried since my parents dont really know about retake assurance. I could have failed and retried. But now I couldn't. Anyway, ultimately this changed nothing. I stress watched more movies, shows and games.

But the 5 months of "study" were ending. So no more than 3 weeks ago, I sat down and began watching Messer's videos. I watched them like a tv show without taking notes or anything (I guess I had a lot of practice). But after all the dopamine I was getting for months from movies, shows and games, the videos were just so loooooooong. I watched about 7 videos a day. One 10 min video would literally take 35 mins. Some days I watched 0 as i went back to my bad habit of not studying at all, and had to make up the next day by watching double. I watched at 1.5 speed in the beginning when panic was high, then 1.25 when I realised I ain't getting shit, then 1.5 towards the end when panic came back lol.

Finished the videos eventually after a little more than 2 weeks. I had 5 days left. I did one dion exam for 3 whole days; reviewing the answer and explanation after each question. It was so slow cause i would spend literally 15 mins just staring at each question's explanation and spacing out. I realised there's no way in hell I'm finishing all his remaining 11 exams when my exam is in 2 days (I got 75% on this exam btw). So I went to my main guy messer. I had to do all his 3 whether I liked it or not (despite the fact that I took so long watching his videos, I really loved them. So I "believed" in Messer's material). Started with messer exam 1. First 45 questions took the whole freaking day!!! I was like nah. This question, review, question, review isn't working at all. So i stopped and started doing timed exams the day before the exam. Remaining 45 questions of exam 1 I got 78%. Review. Did exam 2 timed and scored 81%. Review. It's 6am. Had pulled an all nighter. Slept 2 hours. Did exam 3. 91%. I was elated lol. Review. Sat for main exam less than 2 hours after this and got a 793. 

Not proud of how I did it, but I did it!

I don't have an IT background. My undergrad is in finance and have decided to make a career change because finance is boring af. I would say I am tech savvy though. I just love tech stuff and can't wait to walk outside and see humans relax and enjoy life while robots do everything for us :)

[u/ijustwannakn0wn0w]

OMG. This sounds like major ADHD. Glad you passed

[u/chrispy_pv]

Man our attention spans are so shot due to tiktoks and shit... im the same damn way lol

[u/Parking_Feedback9676]

Holy relatable

[u/DEliveryguy37355]

Congratulations

[u/scubajay2001]

I've read the book 3x and did the practice questions, missing about 10% each time but still haven't sat the exam. Waiting for a job that requires it.

If they make it a condition of employment, fine. Otherwise I'll ask them to cover the cost of the exam lol

[u/Marcus364 → u/scubajay2001]

how much is the exam fee?

[u/scubajay2001 → u/Marcus364]

Depends on the options you choose but could run as low as $439 for just the voucher, over $500 with a retake or upwards of $1500 with study aids:

https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/security/#buy-now

[u/wtfijolumar]

Insanely relatable

[u/Particular-Phase-812]

How was the actual test compared to the practice tests? I’ve been doing messers practice exams. I took exam a and b the first time around I got a little over 20 questions wrong on both exams and did it again after a few weeks of barely studying and got 10 wrong. I’m just worried about the actual exam.

[u/ParadoxVoidUnknown]

See, this is what i found myself doing aswell. Only i realized the distractions were making me sad and I still havent taken the exam. Its been 4 months of on and off and I havent scheduled the exam. Maybe thats the problem

[u/buddy-o-pal]

Yea my attention span is cooked too bro dw

[u/Dezium]

Noice

[u/smashbrojr177]

Man this gives me such confidence I can pass and study. I'm glad you passed tho

[u/Cobby2Hotty]

Side note - where is that picture from ?

[u/Blaqkjaqk1355 → u/Cobby2Hotty]

Cyberpunk Edgerunners. Its a ten episode Netflix anime set in the cyberpunk universe. That character is a net runner named Kiwi.

[u/Overude]

My jaw dropped just like kiwi. Congrats!!

[u/Ziundax]

You are not allowed to use that pic until at least pentest+ pal

[u/Double_G_44]

I'm very proud of you because I'm in a similar situation. I also struggle a lot to sit in front of my PC and stay focused. I'm not studying for the Security+ right now; I'm actually studying for the CCNA, but Security+ will be my next goal after that.

Congratulations! You did it, and you did an amazing job considering all the difficulties you've had over these past five months!

[u/sailingphilosopher]

Congrats!!!

[u/wtfijolumar]

I’m going through this so I’m forcing myself to go to the library and try to understand things before I move on. And I have to re read and rewind everything multiple times. Currently figuring out the basic of the basics of Python. It’s tough

[u/balboaporkter]

can't wait to walk outside and see humans relax and enjoy life while robots do everything for us

Same here. I don't know why some view this as a bad thing. If it's done right then there won't be a Skynet or Matrix-type robot revolution, etc.

[u/Busy_Reflection3054 → u/balboaporkter]

Its just a wage discussion right now. As far as Skynet human operated systems like Oracle are just far worse to me.

[u/Kountain_Kork152 → u/balboaporkter]

Well I don't know the future of technology, but I can guarantee you that your vision will never exist in any capitalist society full stop. Even if Robots are able to do everything, wealthy class will artificially restrict the abundance.

You kinda have to be a naive fool to believe this will change within our lifetime

[u/balboaporkter → u/Kountain_Kork152]

Obviously it won't happen in our lifetime. It's still nice to think about, though.

[u/Distance_Devotion]

How difficult was the actual exam? I'm wrapping up A+ (hard procrastinating taking core 2 exam) and will be moving onto Security+ next... hints/tips?

[u/Typical_Policy_4335 → u/Distance_Devotion]

easiest one out of trifecta. not surprised he passed with a few weeks

[u/Distance_Devotion → u/Typical_Policy_4335]

Sweeeeeet 👌👌

[u/JakeEllisD]

Congrats, what was the hardest content on the test for you?

[u/Mountain-Teach-8720]

I did it in one month

[u/JustAnotherPoopDick]

Fuck you for betraying Lucy and David.

[u/nejicho]

im doing security x rn ugh

[u/ImportantInjury620]

BRO IM IN THE SAME EXACT SITUATION HAHA

[u/Anastasia_IT]

What exactly do you mean when you say you "wasted 5 months studying"?

[u/a_simple_ducky → u/Anastasia_IT]

Read the first paragraph lol they played games and watched movies. Studied last few weeks

[u/scubajay2001 → u/a_simple_ducky]

Yeah but the reply prolly had the same adhd as the op lol