This is my electronic Portfolio and it is a proficient summary of my professional and educational experience and accomplishments. I hope that this provides an overview of who I am and the work I am capable of. My narrative listed below provides a small peek into my history, but my portfolio helps to provide more detail and insight.

Personal narrative Essay

On September 29^th,1992 in a hospital in Virginia, a baby boy was born prematurely and there was no certainty he would live through the month. As time went on, he not only survived but grew into a very energetic and curious young man with no clear goal for his future aside from wanting to help people. As he grew up, he ventured into various parts of the medical field, went to school for different degrees and certifications until he truly found a path for himself that made sense. This same young man who was a medical miracle, is the one telling you this narrative. Throughout this paper I will give a brief timeline of how I came to be who I am today and what work and school experiences I have gone through that have put me on my current path with cybersecurity and my goals for the future.

When I was around the age of 16or 17 I began working as a cashier at a local grocery store called Food Lion. It was not a very high paying position but being my first job and I had just started college; I was just happy to have steady income while I was in school. I was working full time and was pursuing my Associate’s degree at a local community college. I was very young and still not sure what direction I was going in life so I focused on more general study type course until I could decide on what I really wanted to pursue. I have always had the ability to be social and communicate well with almost anyone as well as the drive to help people so I wanted a position or job that would reflect that down the line but didn’t nowhere to start. I eventually graduated with my associates degree in social science but still no clear path on what I want my career to be. One day while working at food lion, I had struck up conversation with a member of the local fire department and u became intrigue with the idea of becoming an EMT for my potential career path. I still needed to become certified so I quickly enrolled into the EMT program at Tidewater Community College. Within about a semester or so, I had passed the EMT course at TCC and I had also taken the exam to become certified as an EMT for Virginia. Once I was certified, it didn’t take time for me to land a job as a real EMT for a medical transport company. I worked for about 3 years as an EMT and while I enjoyed my job and the people, I worked with I still was not sure of the path I was going down. I ended up switching to working in the laboratory within the hospital setting. Although I enjoyed the field of emergency medicine and yes, I was helping people, I just didn’t feel like it was where I belonged and maybe I would find my place in the hospital or the lab.

When I transitioned to the hospital lab, I switched roles completely. I went from working as an emt and taking people to hospitals and appointments, to ordering tests for patient blood samples and prepping specimen to be tested. I worked in the hospital setting for about 5-6 years and I really enjoyed it. It was a position that both helped a lot of people and made me feel like my job had meaning. As glorious as the position seemed at first, after a few years, I started to question again if the medical field and my position was where I really wanted to be. I ended up applying for and receiving a promotion to supervisor for the same department but that still did not quench the thirst of me wanting to help others and find  a job that I fell important doing. While working in the lab, I ran into an old EMT friend of mine and they told me how they had been very happy with their transitions of job paths to cybersecurity. After the conversation, I had spoken to the IT Department at my job a few times and I also had been doing my own research into the field of cybersecurity. I have always been great with computers and I love helping people in any way that I can so I felt that this field o f study makes the most sense. Part of my dilemma with pursuing a career or job in cybersecurity is if I wanted to go back for another degree or if I wanted to focus on the certifications that are possible within cybersecurity. From research I had done, I figured starting with the certifications would be the best idea at first because ultimately, they take less time than finishing a school semester or two and they are very important in the field of cybersecurity. Once I decided I wanted to go the cybersecurity route and then registered to take classes to help study and eventually I ended up getting two CompTIA certifications as well as insight into what my future could hold as far as my next certs and if I’d be going back for another degree. Once I had secured my Network and Security certifications, I steadily applied for jobs for months before anyone got back to me so until I heard anything, I was just still an EMT who was hoping that I could begin my next steps in my path toward my higher future in the tech world. After several months, I was contacted to start a position as being a tech at a helpdesk for the entire US navy for computer troubleshooting. I quickly accepted and started working for the government contract for my position within a few months. I was so happy to not only be helping people but it was enjoyable to receive on the job experience and to truly begin my path in the field. Between studying and passing the certifications in cybersecurity as well as me continuing my position as an IT helpdesk technician, I have been able to further my knowledge within cybersecurity and be able to develop a plan and path on what I want to achieve.

I am currently on the track to become a cybersecurity specialist and I am trying to educationally do everything in my power to reach this goal. I am working on my Bachelors’ degree as well which I will be finished within a month and I have a handful of additional certifications that I want to start studying for such as the AWS cloud certification and the CASP+ certifications. I am confident amongst me working on at least one more certification and potentially going for my Masters degree next year, I will not only continue to help people and enjoy my position, but I also will be able to continue my job experience and just knowledge dealing with cyberspace as well.

My path through the past decade or so has not been an easy one but at the end of the day, I would not change the path I have gone down to get me where I am now. It is easy to look back and how things to be different but if I had not made the decisions I have made, I do not think I’d have made it where I am now. I think it takes some life experiences as well as trial and error sometimes in order to find the right path for yourself and that’s exactly what happened for me. I am proud of the path I have taken to get where I am now, and I will continue building my portfolio of degrees and certifications as well as furthering my knowledge in all aspects of cybersecurity.