After putting it off for nearly a decade (for what amounts to a fragile ego) I finally drew a line in the sand and sat for the Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) 9 exam at the end of January. This article isn’t about how to prepare for the RHCSA exam, nor a brain dump, nor anything else that will help someone pass the exam. Instead I’ll be describing my two day adventure to get certified.

I took the exam on a Wednesday morning at a testing center 3.5 hours from where I live, because our home currently doesn’t have space conducive to taking a proctored online exam. On that Monday I took the day to finalize my preparation and rest up. On Tuesday morning I drove north to Livonia, MI, to scope out the testing center and get settled into my hotel room.

After being on the road for an hour, I suddenly realized I hadn’t brought my laptop charger. This wasn’t ideal, since I had planned on going through some practice scenarios that evening. I was now limited to the charge on my laptop battery to get me through. It was too late to turn around now.

Weather reports showed a line of wintry mix extending from Detroit southward to where I live. Fortunately, I’d have a few hours before dealing with anything concerning, but it also meant I couldn’t take my sweet time getting from point A to point B.

All but the last hour of the drive was uneventful for that stretch of interstate. Once, I reached Toledo, OH, however, the snow started to fall. Another half hour north, road conditions deteriorated considerably. It wasn’t until I finally exited the interstate that I quickly learned just how dicey the situation was. 

I instinctively slowed way down as I approached the exit ramp, and for good reason. There ended up being 4 inches of unplowed, wet, slippery snow leading to an equally concerning intersection. As I came to a stop, my car inexplicably slid to the right – only a few inches, but enough for me to realize just how dangerous conditions were.

I still had about 2 miles to the testing center on surface roads that weren’t cleared at all. I pushed the SNOW button on my car’s dash and proceeded with caution. My car is rear-wheel drive and heavy, so it tends to “complain” in slick conditions. Fortunately, most of my remaining route to the testing center was on straight roads, with only 2 right turns.

After locating the testing center, I proceeded along a series of side streets to get back to my hotel. After making several slow, but uneventful turns, I arrived, and parked my car. I’d be walking anywhere I wanted to go for the evening.

After checking in and dropping my luggage and laptop bag in my room, I decided I’d try Buca di Beppo, since it was close, and who doesn’t want to carb load before a heavy study session? I severely underestimated the amount of food in a meal, laughed to myself, and dug into a family-sized bowl of fettuccini alfredo.

After dinner, it was time to study. So I opened my laptop and emailed myself the eBook I’d been referencing so I could view it on my phone, and alternated between 20 minutes of studying Linux command line and 10 minutes of “The Best of Top Gear” on PlutoTV.

I shut everything down at 9:45pm, and tossed and turned in a strange bed in a strange town, anxious to get my exam over with, and fighting indigestion from too-much-dinner. I lay awake until 11:45pm, and then woke up frequently until at 5:45am, I decided I was up for the day, and got ready for breakfast.

After breakfast, I was back to late stage cramming, hoping to retain a few commands and scenarios that aren’t common in my daily job. At 9:15am, I headed to the testing center. My exam was at 10am.

At the testing center, I got checked in and shown to the room I’d be examining in. I logged in, and immediately got an error about a streaming service not connecting. I reached out to the proctor and after 10 minutes of the Support team looking at and rebooting the test system, I was told there was an issue and that there was no ETA for a fix. The proctor asked how long I would wait, and I explained that I’d driven 3.5 hours from home, and that I’d wait as long as necessary.

Thankfully, after another 25 minutes, I was instructed to log in again and begin the exam. I’d somehow kept my nerves in check, and was still just ready to rip off the band-aid and get it over with.

All I can say about the actual exam is that probably 70-75% of it was almost “fun”. It was right in my wheelhouse, activities I do daily. The remainder was a bit more challenging – made more so by the lack of laptop charging capabilities the night before which kept me from practicing scenarios. With about 20 minutes left, I decided I’d done all I could do, and the rest was in God’s hands. I closed out with the proctor and immediately headed to my car to make the 3.5 hours journey back home.

If I recall correctly, the roads were in much better shape, but for the first hour I was going through all the stages of grief. I knew I hadn’t aced the exam. I left some activities unfinished, so while I was still hopeful for a passing score, I have a melancholic bent, and was preparing for the worst, while slimly hoping for the best. But eventually, after pleading with God, and thinking over what I’d do if I didn’t pass, I found I’d come to a good place, and had released it to be what it would be.

Now, just because one releases something to be what it will be, doesn’t mean one doesn’t want to know the results as soon as possible. Each chance I got on the way home and during that evening, I checked my corporate email for the expected email. Red Hat says it can take up the 3 days, but most people reported getting results the same or next day.

By the time I went to bed that night, I still didn’t have my results. I guess because of the psychological stress of the previous couple of days, I strangely slept through the night, which never happens. I usually wakeup at midnight, then hourly thereafter. But on this night, I slept through until 6am. 

On my personal phone next to the bed I logged in to my Red Hat Learning Subscription (RHLS) portal, and instead of showing “Pending Results” for the exam, it showed “Complete”. Well what does “Complete” mean? It didn’t clearly indicate a pass or fail, so I got up and went downstairs to get my corporate phone. There was the email, timestamped 2:21am – I’d PASSED!

I ended up scoring a little better than I’d expected. Though not a perfect score, I also didn’t pass only by the skin of my teeth. I’d prevailed against something that I’d put a lot of weight on, and had built a lot of anticipation for over the course of a decade. 

I used to get riled up when unplanned or unfortunate events took place on a trip, but I learned years ago to embrace these little adventures. And adventure is the word for it. Some say it’s “not the destination, but the journey”, and I’ve come to appreciate that. The unplanned challenges along the way add flavor to an otherwise routine or dull activity.

I hope you’ve found enjoyment in this chronicle of my RHCSA exam journey. I pushed myself in risking failure to see if I was truly proficient as an RHCSA on RHEL 9, rather than studying and preparing until it was all rote. Being a perfectionist by nature, this was a departure from my typical certification exam prep, but it has given me confidence to push the envelope in the future. Next step? Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE).