Benjamin Rivera Medina
Cybersecurity Clinic
February 6, 2026
Reflection #1

My first impression of Dr. Baaki was that he was very energetic, animated, and extroverted. I thought his implementation of the games we played were a unique way to teach lessons. The first game where the students locked arms and created stories helped us get more comfortable but also taught us how to think like a designer. His teaching of living in the moment and to stop overthinking really spoke to me. This was because I constantly think ahead and overthink my actions and choices. Thinking in the moment and letting go felt completely foreign to me, but I can understand how it helps designers create unique ideas.

In the second session, we put the teachings into practice by being placed in groups and given an incident prompt. I was put in a group of seven and given the task of hardening a security posture for a database that was set up in a garage. This database was used by the Navy and Coast Guard for training. I volunteered to be the scribe, and I began to collaborate with my team to brainstorm ideas. My team was able to formulate different ideas as we built from one another to develop our solution. This taught me the value of listening and building from each other’s ideas.

The final session was held in the music hall, and we got to understand how jazz plays a role in the designing process. We learnt that jazz has an improv characteristic which requires musicians to be in the moment and be flexible. This was demonstrated by the Professor and a student playing music together, and even not knowing what to play the music meshed well. Overall, my experience was highly informative, and I learnt valuable information about the designer mindset and how to incorporate these teachings into this course.