Thank you. What other certifications should I look into? The Senior Systems Administrator here has a ton of certifications...
It really depends. Getting CCNA, MCSA/MCSE (or MCITP:SA/EA), and maybe GSEC (as an example for a good starter a security cert) should take you some time. It might take you a year, two years, three years...it depends on how much knowledge you already have, how much of your time you want to devote to getting certified, and if you really want to learn the material or if you just want to memorize answers from Braindumps and "Practice" Tests that can be purchased online.
While you're working in the field and getting your first certs, you might find that a particular area interests you more than others, and that might mean you want to focus on that. You might want to get certified on some hardware/software that is specific to your organization (for example, maybe they use Juniper or Sonicwall or Aruba or some other vendors and not Cisco for some of their networking devices). Maybe your department is running a lot of VMware and you want to get certified on that.
Your goal should be to have the knowledge and credentials to satisfy what the market is demanding. That market might be as large all of the businesses within 50 miles of your home, or it might be as small as the place that you already have a job that you want to make sure you keep.
Talk to your Senior Systems Admin. Ask him how long it took him to get the "ton of certifications" that he has. If you like your employer and you plan to continue working with him, use him as your mentor. Bounce your questions off of him, ask him what he thinks about the path you're going down and if he would change anything.