Hello!! Welcome to my e-portfolio that will help showcase some of my most strategic and exceptional experiences throughout my academic and professional career. I am excited to present you with interesting content that displays my skills in the most authentic way.
Who Am I?
How Would I Introduce Myself Professionally:
My name is Carmen Taylor, and for the last four years I have been studying at Old Dominion University. I am set to earn my Cybersecurity Bachelor’s degree in June 2026. During my academic journey with ODU, I have learned computer programming, network security, Information Technology, cybersecurity ethics, and compliance standards/ frameworks. Especially including coding, or software engineering aspects of cybersecurity, along with risk management and end-point security. After graduation, I am currently searching for employment opportunities that will allow me to learn and strengthen my skills in vulnerability management, penetration testing, software development, and IT support, while upholding exemplary ethical values.
Before graduating high school, I realized that I wanted to develop a deeper understanding of technology, app building, and cybersecurity. Then during my freshman year of college, I quickly learned there was so much more to cybersecurity, which kept me inspired and eager to learn more. Afterwards, I would consistently research, and cultivate an appreciation for investigating technological advancements, cyber attacks and their damages, as well as, ways to protect myself and others. As I began to see the evolution of technology, the World’s reliance on it, and the benefits and dangers of online usage, I knew a career in Cybersecurity was for me. I have always wanted a career that helps and protects others, and with this career path, I can do just that on a grand scale, whether its government agencies, businesses, or civilians.
Key Experiences That Shaped My Path:
Moving into my junior year of college, I was granted the opportunity to intern for the City of Suffolk as a cybersecurity intern. During this time, I learned to apply my technical skills in a professional setting. In this full-time position, I was able to refine my knowledge on cybersecurity compliance laws and Microsoft systems, shadow GDS and IT professionals who solved technical problems both remotely or in person, learn about IDS, MFA, Barracuda, network infrastructure, and exposure to professional team meetings. Some examples of the work I did here involved managing an employee phishing email system, using Microsoft defender for sites and security measures against legacy systems and city employees, shadowed an assist for IT support for the Suffolk police and firefighters, and conducted research, documents, and spreadsheets describing malicious domains and IP addresses or other security procedures. With this team, I was immersed in an environment that helped me grow well beyond my current knowledge on cybersecurity, risk management, endpoint-security, and IT skills. Which underscored how important all tech professionals’ worldwide truly are.
Inside the classroom, I learned valuable programming, and ethical hacking skills, during my cyber courses. I worked on Hands- On learning modules that utilized Windows and Linux based software replicas to perform changes to the systems, like adding users, giving admin access, mimicking brute force attacks, fixing printer settings, steganography skills, and monitoring network traffic. During these classes, I learned how immersive and intriguing coding is, no matter the OS System being used. This experience allowed me to gain the knowledge of safe computer principles and ways to manage or prepare against intricate cyber attacks.
As a whole these are only some of the experiences that lead to my growth and interest in becoming a better cyber analyst. I was able to forge improved critical thinking skills, increased technical knowledge and verbiage, as well as improved research and documentation skills. With this knowledge I’ll be able to show my understanding of network and computer systems to better protect myself and others, both professionally and personally, from any cyber threats that may occur.
What I’ve Learned Along The Way:
While navigating through my academic and professional pathways, I have learned a great deal of technical skills and strategic insights to enhanced problem solving against cyber issues.
I have learned that cybersecurity isn’t just all about large scale cyber attacks, and can happen in many areas of life, not always involving stealing money or personal information. Sometimes a cyber attack can happen to make a system or website not work for political gain, like wars or misinformation, rigging sports events, like what happened with the 2026 Winter Olympics, or even to just hurt another business from gaining sales during a particular time. These are all examples of DDoS attacks, and during my coursework research I learned of all the dangers of these attacks on small businesses or events.
Additionally, when I first started coding, I thought computer programming was quite stressful, and I thought I might never fully get it. However, after meeting with various professors and completing labs that work with OS Systems, or my final project to create a socket program of a database that lists the history of social media websites, my idea of coding quickly changed. I started to truly admire what I could create from using loops and conditional statements. I also grew fascinated with understanding how much a computers‘ software holds beyond it main functions, that meets the untrained eye.
Lastly, I also learned the value of having a team when it comes to the world of cybersecurity. During my internship and group course project, which was to formulate a business plan to create a working network system for Maury High School, along with a budget showing what and how many of each product we’d need for this plan to truly work seamlessly, is when I realized this. Most of the time I had thought cyber professionals work alone, since I heard so many of them have remote jobs. While in a sense that statement is partially accurate, cyber professional utilize their team and coworkers more often than not. Many times there will be cyber issues that aren’t easily fixed with just one person. Sometimes cyber professionals utilize each other to bounce ideas off each other to find long-term solutions to certain situations. This changed my entire perspective of thinking I needed to know everything before starting my cybersecurity career, and reminded me when there’s something I need help with, I’ll be able to turn to my research and team to find the best possible solution to the issue.
Where I Am Headed
Moving forward from graduation and obtaining my degree, I plan entering the tech world. I plan to begin working with other Government agencies than can lead me to upholding ethical standards while providing IT support, computer programming, or reviewing compliance standards. Working in the Government sector will allow me to network and gain experience working with cyber professionals who deal with complex cyber problems everyday. If allowed to work in the Government sector, I will also be allowed to procure a security clearance. Finally, I also plan to return to school to earn my Masters in Cybersecurity next spring, where I plan to obtain my cyber certifications further expanding my skills and credentials.
Everything I have learned along with my experiences so far, only touches the surface to the beginning of reaching my full potential. Learning the skills of teamwork, effective security measures, ethical hacking, hands-on programming, IT skills, and critical thinking have crafted me into something, at one point, I could only imagine. I learned that with hard work and effort, I am well on my way to achieving my longtime goal of becoming a successful cybersecurity analyst.
Carmen Taylor 2026