The beginning 

My name is Aliyah Morales  and I am a senior graduating from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in cybersecurity. The educational journey I have been on has spanned eighteen years, two countries, two languages, five different schools from kindergarten to high school, a local community college, university, countless teachers, English as a second language counselors and professors.  I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to receive higher education and an internship that correlates with my internship.  

Choosing Community College 

The private school I was set to attend for my senior year of high school didn’t feel like the right fit for me. After thoughtful discussions with my parents, I decided to finish my remaining high school credits independently. As part of that plan, I took placement tests in math and English at Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) to begin working toward an associate degree. I passed the math placement test and placed into college-level English with a supplementary support course. 

In the fall of 2018, I graduated from high school at sixteen and enrolled at VWCC. Although I didn’t yet know what I wanted to major in, I gravitated toward science and took general courses required across many disciplines. My first semester included calculus, chemistry, and an introductory college course. While calculus went well, I quickly realized that chemistry wasn’t for me. In the next semester, I shifted focus, taking a history course and exploring the idea of majoring in international relations. I enjoyed the class, even though half of the semester was held remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and began looking into different career paths by using school-provided aptitude tests. 

One day, I attended a campus event and came across a pamphlet from the Information Technology and Computer Science department. I did some research, spoke with my academic counselor, and by fall 2020, I changed my major to an Associate of Applied Science with a specialization in Cybersecurity and Networking. I began with a full course load in Networking, Information Technology, several coding languages and foundation in cybersecurity classes. I graduated in May 2021 with a 3.53 GPA and was accepted into two in-state universities. 

Transferring to a four-year institute 

During my time at Virginia Wester, I researched jobs that I wanted to hold and their requirements. Throughout my research I saw that having a bachelor’s degree would be helpful, and at the point in my life I could focus on school. My first choice was Radford University, it was close enough to home and my credits easily transferred. At Radford, the Computer and information systems security major was the closest to what I studied for my associates. Several weeks after I applied to Radford, I spoke with a friend who was attending Radford with the same major I intended, and they told me they were transferring to Old Dominion University due to their remote campus. Old Dominion University is located in Norfolk Virginia but has a remote campus that is attended by students all over the world. Old Dominion University offered a Bachelor of Science majoring in cybersecurity, Information Technology and Cyber operations degrees. I chose the Bachler’s of Science majoring in cybersecurity, hoping to narrow down the specific field of Cybersecurity through experience and certifications. In the fall of 2021, I enrolled as a full-time remote student at Old Dominion Global campus taking a full load with classes heavily focused on cyber policy creation, cyber war, cryptography and network defense.  

Information Technology Internship 

I was told by my professors and guidance counselors that having experience through an internship prior to graduation would help me find a job post-graduation. Unfortunately, in my situation my internship needed to be paid if I was going to replace that with my part time job. Another aspect is that internships, paid or unpaid, are extremely competitive. I earned an entry level certificate in the Cybersecurity field, the CompTIA Security +, to try and standout on applications. I was unsuccessful for a while, but during that I continued to take classes year-round and work part time. Eventually, in April of 2024 I used the careers portal at Virginia Western and applied for a local internship at an insurance company. This internship requires having an associate’s in information technology, and or a certification like the CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Network + or the CompTIA A+ certificate. When I applied to the internship, I had CompTIA Security+, my associates degree and was considered a junior at Old Dominion University. The time from my application, interview and contract spanned less than three weeks. I began the internship the first week of May, I was placed with the Helpdesk team. My initial task was to meet the team, understand the business and set up my accounts and cubicle. As an intern, I reported to the Helpdesk manager, who took the time to show me the helpdesk process and procedures, the systems they use and manage. One of the first tasks I was able to complete by myself was assessing and categorizing the e-waste room. The e-waste room was able to be cleared by a company that specialized in destroying technology and erasing sensitive data. With the type of devices they sent, the company was able to get paid for the e-waste room. During the rest of my internship, I learned to create accounts and onboard new employees, and offboarded employees along with removing their access. Part of the onboarding employees were setting up their device based on their work situation. If the user was remote, I would image a laptop with software and application that they needed and ship it out with monitors, keyboards and mouse. If the user is in the office, I would configure their device and set up their cubicle. On offboarding, part of my duties was tracking devices from terminated employees and making sure they were received.  

Information Security Internship 

In the fall of 2024, the company I was interning with acquired another insurance company based in Austin, Texas. After the acquisition there was an organizational shift, and I was informed that I was going to placed on the Information Security team. I was pleasantly surprised to not only have continued my internship, but to have been placed on a team that was closest to my major. In this portion of my internship, I had a exposure to many different aspects of cybersecurity. I strengthened compliance efforts by aligning company policies with NY 500 DFS cybersecurity regulations and played a role in merging security policies post-acquisition. I analyzed reported emails for over seven months, categorizing them as threats, spam, or reconnaissance, and compiled weekly phishing incident reports for management. I investigated Microsoft Defender alerts and supported incident mitigation efforts. I also assisted in implementing the Cofense phishing reporting button, ensuring it functioned properly across departments. In addition, I contributed to Security Awareness Training programs and helped develop a webinar introducing the company’s new email encryption policy. 

Conclusion 

Looking back at my educational journey, I have been very fortunate to receive much guidance and help from professors, guidance counselors and family members. I can see how attending community college allowed me to explore my interests, transferring to ODU helped me specialize, and my internship gave me hands-on experience that confirmed my passion for cybersecurity. To quote McAdams (2001), “It is of great relevance to the young individual’s identity formation that he be responded to and be given function and status as a person whose gradual growth and transformation make sense to those who begin to make sense to him.” This quote resonates with my experience. The support I received from mentors and colleagues helped me feel seen and valued. Their recognition allowed me to see myself as someone worth investing into, someone whose transformation not only made sense but had meaning. 

Citation 

ODU. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.odu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/canvas-student-guide.pdf