My name is Dipra Barua and I am from Arlington, Virginia. I am currently a junior in Old Dominion University and major in Cybersecurity. My goal is to get a bachelor’s degree by next year and get a certification in Security+.

• Reflection 1 – After the first two weeks of this internship, I can confidently say I have learned a lot from the professor, guests, and lastly the students. One of the first things I learned was howRisk Management works and how it operates. Risk management has helped meunderstand cybersecurity in a higher level. All though there is a lot learning in cybersecurity to do, learning about risk management has got me started in learning about cybersecurity and I am now trying to get my Security+ certification to be prepared for the future. One of the things I enjoy about the internship is the peopleI have met. In my opinion, being surrounded around my classmates has gained me knowledge because of what they say and how they say it. Another thing I will say isa lot of my peers have a lot of knowledge which makes it easier for me to understand what is going on. Everyone in class has their own point of views on certain topics which helps me form the knowledge I need for cybersecurity. One of my favorite parts of the internship was the presentations we just did. In my opinion, everyone in the class did amazing. There was a lot of important information during the presentations and everyone in class came with a different approach on how to deal with the hackers that damaged Texas. I liked how some of my peers said that they would pay the money then add security features so the incident wouldn’t happen again. Overall, I have enjoyed the internship so far and I am ready to learn more!

• Reflection 2 – After this past month of this internship, I can confidently say I am ready to learn moreand elevate my learning in cybersecurity. One of the first things I want to talk about is Greg Tomchick. Greg has done a great job about explaining the ins and outs of cybersecurity. In my opinion, he does a great job of breaking down certain topics and makes it easier for you to understand what is going on. One of the things I enjoyed this past month was going to different businesses and evaluating their cybersecurity systems. In my opinion, going to different businesses was very interesting because my group and I got to see every business’s cybersecurity strength and weakness. For example, some of the stores we interviewed talked about how they don’t know who has access to the company’s information and systems. In my opinion, that is a problem because you must be aware about who has access to your information in the company incase anything fraudulent happens. One of the last things I want to talk about is Tanya from TRS Productions. I have had the pleasure of working with Tanya and helping with her company “TRS Productions”. My group and I talked to Tanya about her company’s cybersecurity systems and what she needs to work on and like I said before it is very interesting to see different company’s cybersecurity systems and practices.

• Reflection 3 – Time management is one of the most important skills to have as a person. One of the things time management can do is make your life easier because you prepared ahead of time. Time management can be hard for some people is because of what goes on during their life. One of the reason’s time management can be hard for people is because some students have important tasks to do like school, work, or taking care of their family. Many students struggle with time management just for the simple fact they are easily distracted, or they are influenced by their peers to spend time with them. Time management is one of the tasks I still am trying to improve on. As a student, time management can sometimes be hard for me because I must go to work, and I also have so many different classes to keep up with. As a student, it can be very difficult going to work, going to college as a full-time student and having to study and do homework while not being able to get enough sleep. Personally, I know a lot of people that go to work and school full time and they do great at both because they have great time management. Time management is one of the few aspects in your life that is important because you have dedicate your time to what is important and will help you in the future.

Final Paper –

In my opinion, I think the internship went right because Tanya appreciated what we did
for and told us we helped her understand the basics of cybersecurity. One of the tasks I
would redo is some of the presentations because I feel like we could have presented it
better and the flow of our words should have come out better. One of the things that
went wrong was how everyone had different schedules which made it hard to
communicate sometimes which made doing assignments and projects harder. If I could
do the project over again I honestly would have given more time to the project and
communicated with my teammates and tell them what’s going on. One of the things I
appreciated was how we worked on the project together after class and after school
which helped because it was easier doing the project when everyone was working
together. After this internship, I can confidently say I have a way better understanding of
cybersecurity and can talk about it to my peers with more confidence. One of the things
I learned was that not every business is prepared for cyber threats because a lot of the
businesses my team and I went to were not secure and were very vulnerable to cyber
threats. We also created a Cybersecurity Sample for the CEO of TRS productions to help
her to know what she might need help with because she wants to protect her company
from cyberthreats. The internship filled the goal Tanya was very pleased with our
presentation. Eric and Kayrene were strong teammates who collaborated well and brought out the
best in each other. They supported one another and effectively tackled challenges
together, showing dedication and teamwork. However, we occasionally faced
difficulties coordinating due to the demands of the school schedule, which sometimes
made it hard to align their commitments. Despite these challenges, they remained
resilient and worked through conflicts, always striving to succeed as a team. It also
helped a lot meeting after school and having their numbers so I could contact them if I
had any questions. The opportunity to build my resume was also motivating. The financial
aspect was also very exciting and knowing I’m helping a business and protecting them
from cyber attacks was also very motivating.
One of the hardest parts of the internship was dealing with scheduling conflicts.
Everyone had their own responsibilities and commitments, making it tough to sync up.
Our schedules didn’t always align, and it felt like we were constantly juggling different
priorities. Communication could be challenging at times, especially when we were all
stretched thin, but we did our best to push through and make it work. The workload was
also very hard because I remember at one point I had to work on 3 different
presentations at once and at times it was a little stressful but having great team
members helped. I would tell future interns to have some type of knowledge about what you are doing
before entering an internship, also be ready for the workload, try to network with people
because it can help you in the future. One of the last things I will say is communicate
with your team and work together as a team because it will make your life so much
easier because it is not going to be possible to work on some of these projects by
yourself, you’re going to have to work together as a team so everything can be smooth.
My internship experience was filled with both ups and downs, but overall, it was an
incredibly valuable journey. There were moments of success where everything came
together, and the hard work paid off, as well as challenges that tested my ability to
adapt and stay resilient. One of the biggest obstacles was managing conflicting
schedules, as everyone had their own responsibilities, and coordinating effectively
wasn’t always easy. Communication wasn’t perfect at times, and balancing school
commitments alongside the demands of the internship made things even more
challenging. Despite these hurdles, I’m grateful for the opportunity to grow personally
and professionally. I learned the importance of teamwork, communication, and time
management while tackling real-world tasks. Working alongside teammates like Eric
and Kayrene helped me realize the value of collaboration, even when things didn’t go as
planned. These experiences taught me how to stay flexible and push forward,
regardless of setbacks. Im excited for what the future holds and can’t wait to explore
new opportunities where I can apply what I’ve learned. This experience has shown me
that growth comes from both challenges and achievements, and I’m ready to take the
next step in my journey. I would recommend the internship to motivate students to get their security+ because it will help them in the future and I will say keep the days where you had students working
on their project that was very helpful and I would get the majority of my work done in
class. And I would also say to calm the workload down just a little bit because
sometimes working on 3 different projects and having a 3 page paper to write can be
very stressful but overall, this internship was everything I asked for and I had a great
time.