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2013 Academy Impact ProfilePrince WilliamHaymarketBattlefield High School - VAManassasNVCC - Mannasas CampusQuanticoDoDEA/ USA - Quantico High azewellTazewellForest Park High SchoolNVCC - Woodbridge CampusJ. Sargeant Reynolds CommunityCollegeMeadowbrook High SchoolRoanokeRoanokeVirginia Western Community CollegeScottGate CityShenandoahMount tt CountyTriplett Business and TechnicalInstituteSpotsylvania Career & TechnicalCenterBrooke Point High SchoolVirginia BeachVirginia BeachSouthwest Virginia CommunityCollegeTazewell County Career TechnicalCenterCenter for Information DominanceDam Neck, U.S. NavyECPI University Virginia Beach (ACC)Tidewater Community College VBVirginia Beach SchoolsWarrenFront RoyalWashingtonAbingdonWiseWytheBlue Ridge Technical CenterNeff Center for Science & TechnologyWashington County Technical SchoolBig Stone GapMountain Empire Community CollegeWiseWise County Vocational CenterWythevilleWytheville Community CollegeAcademy Impact StoryAs Cisco Networking Academy turns 15, we look back to see how far we’ve come. We see millions of students,each with a unique educational experience and a track record of accomplishments beyond the classroom. Theirstories are our story.Role Models and Relevant Courses Inspire a Reluctant StudentStephen Lynch credits supportive mentors and reality-based curricula with setting him on the pathto becoming a networking expert—and a mentor in his own right.Since the first classes began in 1997, Cisco Networking Academy has thrived on closecollaboration among faculty, students, Cisco team members, community organizations,and business partners. Academy alumni also play an important part, serving as rolemodels, coaches, advisors—and business recruiters who can help launch graduates on asuccessful career path. Cory Gray is one such alumni mentor, and mentee StephenLynch is carrying his spirit forward.In 2006 Stephen Lynch was a high school student in Virginia Beach, Virginia, looking forsome direction. “I was one of those people who got bored easily,” Lynch says. “I alwayswanted to do more.” Pursuing his extracurricular interests, he started a web hostingcompany and founded two popular software developer communities while he was still inhis mid-teens. But, by his own admission, he was not an engaged student. “I didn’t enjoythe traditional high school courses because they weren’t relevant to my life,” he recalls.“They didn’t seem to be of any practical use.” He thought college would just be more ofthe same. He was uncertain where the future would take him.“Taking theacademy courseswas the bestdecision I evermade. It hasdefined mycareer, myfuture, andmy life.”Then Lynch heard about the Virginia Beach Advanced Technology Center (ATC), an academic and vocationalprogram for high school and college students that offers the Cisco CCNA Discovery and Exploration curricula forCisco certified networking associates. In addition to his high school classes, Lynch undertook the two-yearcourse of study offered at ATC. “Taking the academy courses was the best decision I ever made,” he says. “Ithas defined my career, my future, and my life.”Enter Cory Gray, currently a Cisco network consulting engineer who holds Cisco’s prestigious networkingcertification, the Cisco CCIE for Cisco certified internetwork experts. Gray had also taken the academy coursesat ATC while in high school. He now returns to the Virginia Beach Public Schools regularly as a mentor andadvisory board member. Gray was recognized by the ATC as Volunteer of the Year in 2006.Lynch met Gray while he was working on his senior ATC project, known as Caspian. Academy classroom and labprojects combine technical and soft skills in cutting-edge business scenarios. The Caspian project that year 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.Page 5 of 7

2013 Academy Impact ProfileVirginiacalled for designing a gaming network encompassing five cities, including development of a prototype, andrunning a real game on it. Seniors then defended the design in front of a panel of network and business experts.These working professionals add tremendously to the learning experience. “If they hadn’t been involved, wewouldn’t have put the same level of effort into the project,” says Lynch. Gray was one of the experts on theCaspian panel. The two stayed in touch, and Gray offered advice and moral support as Lynch proceeded with hisnetwork education, found a part-time job with a local Cisco Gold Certified Partner, ABS Technology Architects,and acquired a succession of Cisco certifications which are highly prized by technical groups in industry andgovernment.When Lynch began taking Networking Academy courses, he was still dubious about school and uncertain aboutwhat he wanted for a career. However, he was immediately attracted to the academy’s method of instruction,particularly the hands-on labs and team projects. “The academy courses focus on workplace skills and technicalmaterial you can actually use,” he says. “Students are becoming increasingly more intrigued by such programs.”When he found out how valuable Cisco certifications are in the professional world, Lynch decided to take theCisco CCENT examination for Cisco certified entry network technicians, while he was still in his first year ofacademy studies. He was surprised when, despite his entrepreneurial track record and his proven computerskills, he didn’t pass on the first try. The setback proved temporary. He redoubled hisefforts and passed the exam easily a few months later. It was 2007, and he was just 17“I go back to theyears old.It wasn’t long before he powered forward to achieve the more advanced CCNAcertification in 2008, his junior year in high school. The next year he obtained the CiscoCCNP certification for Cisco certified network professionals. Each of these certificationsrequires rigorous written and hands-on exams, and Lynch passed both on the first try.academy as amentor, and identifywho is going to bereally successful. Itmotivates me tocontinue myeducation andbroaden myskill set.”After high school graduation, when Lynch decided to go for the top-level CCIEcertification, Gray again offered his advice and support. Lynch prepared over the course oftwo years, amassing 900 pages of notes and putting in 3000 lab hours. He fell short on hisfirst attempt, but he persevered, receiving the certification (CCIE Routing/Switch #36243)on his second try in August 2012, at age 21. He is one of the youngest professionals ever to do so. (Grayqualified for his CCIE at 24.) “It takes a lot out of you to get there, but it means a lot once you do,” Lynchobserves. Gray recalls, “I knew he was special, but I had no idea how much he would accomplish so soon.”Unexpectedly, Lynch came to value the nontechnical and soft skills he developed in Networking Academycourses as much as the technical content. Subjects he found boring in a traditional classroom setting were moreuseful and enjoyable in a technology environment. “I needed verbal skills to write emails and make presentations.I needed math for subnetting [configuring logical network topologies],” he says. “I needed science to understandthe future of technology. The more I learned about networks, the more I valued the skills that went along with thatknowledge.”Spurred on by this new appreciation for a broad education, Lynch enrolled as an undergraduate at George MasonUniversity (GMU), where he is studying information technology and business. He expects to graduate in 2014.Meanwhile, he is studying for other CCNA certifications with a particular interest in network design, security andwireless before working full-time after graduation as a network engineer at ABS Technology Architects.Lynch also benefitted from a second mentor: Trent Dorroh, the talent acquisition and vendor relationship managerat ABS Technology Architects. Dorroh volunteers at ATC, and has motivated Lynch throughout his time at thecompany to make sure Lynch had all the time and equipment he needed to practice for his certifications. ABSallowed Lynch almost two months of full-time paid study time to prepare for the CCIE. The company also aidedhim with tuition reimbursements, and sent him to the annual Cisco Live customer appreciation event, where heconnected with fellow CCIE professionals and dove into world-class technical seminars. 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.Page 6 of 7

2013 Academy Impact ProfileVirginiaLynch hopes to qualify for the Networking Academy “Dream Team” next year at Cisco Live.The Dream Team is an elite group, consisting of 10 students and one instructor, who areselected from dozens of applicants across the United States and Canada. The team workswith Cisco engineers to help build and troubleshoot the massive Network Operations Center(NOC) that supports exhibits as well as approximately 15,000 global attendees.Lynch is doing his part to give back by staying active in the academy program andmentoring students at ATC. He has been certified as a Networking Academy instructor(Cisco CCAI certification), and is helping GMU staff develop the university into a regionalsupport center for surrounding schools offering academy courses. He is working towardsbecoming “Instructor Training Qualified ITQ”, which allows him to teach other instructors. Healso wants to help extend the Caspian senior project concept to other Networking Academyschools around the world.“I’m inspired by the new students that come through the academy,” he says. “I go back tothe academy as a mentor, and try to identify who is going to be really successful. Itmotivates me to continue my education and broaden my skill set. The academy students areexactly what companies like ABS Technology Architects are looking for. I just hope I canencourage someone else in the same way Cory and Trent have encouraged me.” His adviceto other students following the same track: “You need to put the time in, understand theconcepts, gain hands-on experience, identify not only how technologies work, but how theyare used in business, and stay motivated, all while keeping your goals in mind. However, inorder to be truly successful, you have to enjoy the experience.”Trent Dorroh,talent acquisitionand vendorrelationship managerat ABS TechnologyArchitects, says:“I find greatsatisfaction inhelping young,motivatedindividualsrealize their fullpotential in life.ABS is able toidentify rising,talentedengineers andprovide themwith careeropportunities.”At the 15 year milestone, Networking Academy has compiled an institutional historyenlivened by a growing cohort of alumni who have gone on to contribute to theircommunities and local economies. Stephen Lynch, Cory Gray, and Trent Dorrohdemonstrate how that tradition is now being carried forward from one generation ofstudents, instructors, mentors, and role models to the next.Group photo on right: Instructor John B. Nelson received a plaque from Cisco alumni for ten years ofservice. (From left to right) Walker Dorroh, CEO, ABS Architects; Cory Gray, CCIE; John Nelson, ATC;Stephen Lynch, CCIE; Trent Dorroh, Director of Implementation Services, ABS ArchitectsLearn MoreSee videos and success stories.Learn how to get isco Corporate Social ResponsibilityWe believe that businesses have a responsibility to operate in ways that respect and ultimately benefit people,communities and the planet we live on; we call this Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Our core CSR philosophy isthat impact multiplies whenever human and technology networks combine to solve a problem.This is why we approach CSR the same way we approach business – by applying our technology, employee expertise andpartnerships. We are focused on four primary goals: improving the well-being of people and communities around theworld, reducing our environmental impact and helping our customers do the same, conducting our business ethically, andcreating a workplace where our employees thrive. 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.Page 7 of 7

Cisco delivers theducation programs through partnerships with private and public organizations. . middle schools, military, nontraditional educational settings, and post-graduate institutions 5 Students that enroll in more than one education level or curriculum in 12 months may be . Lynchburg Lynchburg Central Virginia Community College