My sophomore year of high school was the first time I was introduced to cybersecurity. I got an email from AZ Cyber Initiative, trying to recruit people for a cybersecurity boot camp they were holding. So, not knowing what cybersecurity was, I googled it, saw the stock images of stereotypical hackers, and signed up because, to be totally honest, it just seemed cool. At the time, I was focused heavily on learning how to program and making money on the side, so I didn’t think much of it but tried it anyway. Before graduation, I was considering going to school for Computer science, and I was developing a game at the time, so I thought I wanted to do gameplay programming as a career; however, that quickly changed after I learned about cybersecurity.
I took part in AZ Cyber Initiatives’ first-ever cybersecurity boot camp, which was held virtually at the height of the pandemic in 2021. It was a week-long boot camp where I heard stories and experiences from numerous cybersecurity professionals who emphasized how important cybersecurity is to our nation. Talking about the vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure, and how, if attacked, it could impact our way of life. One of them mentioned how if nine critical electrical substations were taken down, the U.S. power grid would fail. Hearing stuff like this is what sold me because it sounded like there was a substantial threat, and I could have an important impact by preventing those from vulnerabilities like this in the future. I find a lot of enjoyment in being able to solve problems where sometimes it’s difficult to even know where to begin. Having a challenge like that, where I can resolve a problem for someone, is a great feeling.
The instructors from that boot camp were the ones who had the most significant impact on me. They introduced me to cybersecurity fundamentals and taught us how to perform different cyber attacks. Teaching us tools like John the Ripper to crack passwords. Getting my hands dirty with a Linux terminal and being able to understand how multiple commands could be combined to solve problems got me hooked. After that week, my interests changed, and I knew I wanted to dive deeper into the rabbit hole.
After that, I spent the next couple of years enjoying building websites, teaching students in the boot camps, and speaking about my experience with AZ Cyber at different events. They later introduced me to certifications and helped me with the CompTIA Network+ by assisting me with the resources and funds I needed to pass it. After completing that, I’ve gone on to pass the CompTIA Security+ and have found what I’ve learned from these certifications extremely beneficial. When covering topics in my classes, messing with new tools, or working on technology-related projects, it has helped me understand the underlying concepts of how something works and the why behind it. While beforehand, I could figure out how to get a program to function, and somewhat understand its output, it wasn’t until I understood the why that I started to avoid simple mistakes and become more efficient. I’ve gone on multiple month-long sprees where I’ve taken deep dives into various topics to round out what I know and discover challenges that interest me. A few I’ve spent a lot of time researching are doing web application security, developing an understanding of solidity and how smart contracts function to learn about smart contract security, and, more recently, studying different tools like the Elastic Stack for usage as a security analyst. Even when these topics aren’t exactly related, I’ve found that the approaches I’ve learned in the past, along with some technical information, have tended to carry over to make new topics easier to comprehend.
Since then, I’ve graduated with my Associate of Applied Science in Cyber Security from Pima Community College. I’m now at the University of Arizona pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Cyber Operations with an emphasis in defense and forensics. Currently, I’m focused on ways to gain more hands-on experience, learning in and outside of my classes, and looking for internships. I’m excited to see how these next couple of years will play out, and I look forward to pursuing new opportunities.
