{"id":183,"date":"2026-08-17T03:44:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T03:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/?p=183"},"modified":"2026-08-17T03:44:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T03:44:29","slug":"reflection-paper-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/2026\/08\/17\/reflection-paper-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflection Paper 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My internship with ITA International as a Quality Intern has taught me a lot about cybersecurity,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

government contracting, and honestly myself as a whole. During my first 50 hours, I have been<\/p>\n\n\n\n

working on an underwater data center project and helping with quality assurance related tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of my work has involved reviewing abbreviations, identifying discrepancies, and making<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sure information is accurate. At first I thought some of these tasks would be simple, but I quickly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

realized how important attention to detail really is. One small mistake can create bigger issues<\/p>\n\n\n\n

later on, especially when dealing with sensitive information and government related projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing that has stood out to me during this internship is how much I have learned about<\/p>\n\n\n\n

topics such as CUI, DoD requirements, FAR regulations, SaaS, and other concepts that are<\/p>\n\n\n\n

important in both cybersecurity and government contracting. Before this internship, I had heard<\/p>\n\n\n\n

some of these terms before, but I never fully understood how important they were until I started<\/p>\n\n\n\n

working with them. Learning about these topics has helped me think about cybersecurity from a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

completely different perspective. It is not just about technology. It is also about protecting<\/p>\n\n\n\n

information, following regulations, reducing risk, and making sure organizations remain secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest lessons I learned during this internship is that I have to think differently now<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that I am entering the cybersecurity field. Before, I would use tools and technology without<\/p>\n\n\n\n

always considering the security implications behind them. During this internship I realized that I<\/p>\n\n\n\n

cannot have that same mindset anymore. There was a situation where I used ChatGPT while<\/p>\n\n\n\n

working on something related to a government contracting environment, and it made me realize<\/p>\n\n\n\n

just how serious data protection is. Nothing sensitive was intentionally shared, but it taught me a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

valuable lesson about understanding approved tools, protecting information, and making sure I<\/p>\n\n\n\n

follow policies. It made me realize that cybersecurity is not just a job. It is a responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizations trust you to protect their information, and one mistake can put that trust at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This internship has also helped me grow because it forced me to start looking at everything from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a cybersecurity standpoint. I find myself thinking about risks, security concerns, and what could<\/p>\n\n\n\n

go wrong before making decisions. I have learned that cybersecurity professionals cannot afford<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to overlook details. You have to think ahead and consider how your actions could impact an<\/p>\n\n\n\n

organization. That mindset is something I am still developing, but I know it is going to make me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

better in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes down to my career goals, this internship has only confirmed that cybersecurity is<\/p>\n\n\n\n

what I want to do. As I never wanted any kind of minor at all whatsoever, I wanted to shift my<\/p>\n\n\n\n

entire focus toward cybersecurity and put all of my effort into becoming successful in this field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more I learn, the more I realize how much opportunity exists. If you genuinely sit down and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

think about it, cybersecurity is always going to be needed. Technology keeps evolving every<\/p>\n\n\n\n

day, and organizations will always need people who can protect systems and information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another reason I chose cybersecurity is because I want a career where I can constantly learn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and improve. I never wanted to be comfortable doing the same thing every day. I want to be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

challenged. I want to be around people who are smarter than me because that is how I grow. If I<\/p>\n\n\n\n

am surrounded by people who know more than I do, then I can learn from them and continue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

improving myself. Even if I am struggling at first, I would rather struggle around successful<\/p>\n\n\n\n

people and gain knowledge than be comfortable around people who are not pushing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

themselves. That mindset has always motivated me. At the same time, I am not afraid to admit that financial stability is important to me. One of my<\/p>\n\n\n\n

goals is to eventually have a successful cybersecurity career that allows me to earn a good<\/p>\n\n\n\n

living and provide for my future family. I like the flexibility that cybersecurity can offer, especially<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the possibility of remote work. If I have a family one day, I want to be able to provide for them<\/p>\n\n\n\n

while still being present. That work life balance is something that motivates me, but this<\/p>\n\n\n\n

internship has shown me that those opportunities come with responsibility and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One challenge I have faced during this internship is adjusting my mindset and understanding<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the level of professionalism required when working in cybersecurity and government<\/p>\n\n\n\n

contracting. I realized that I cannot approach situations the same way I used to. There are rules,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

regulations, and security requirements that must be followed. Learning this has been<\/p>\n\n\n\n

challenging at times, but it has also been one of the most valuable lessons I have learned so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mistakes can happen, but what matters is learning from them and making sure they do not<\/p>\n\n\n\n

happen again. Overall, my first 50 hours at ITA International have been a great learning experience. I have<\/p>\n\n\n\n

learned technical concepts, gained experience working on real projects, and developed a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

stronger understanding of cybersecurity and information protection. More importantly, I have<\/p>\n\n\n\n

learned a lot about myself. This internship has reinforced my decision to pursue cybersecurity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as a career and has shown me that there is always room for improvement. I still have a lot to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

learn and many skills to develop, but that does not discourage me. If anything, it motivates me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

even more because I want to continue growing, proving myself, and becoming the best<\/p>\n\n\n\n

cybersecurity professional I can be. This experience has helped me realize that success is not<\/p>\n\n\n\n

about being perfect. It is about learning from mistakes, staying disciplined, and continuing to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

push forward no matter what challenges come your way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My internship with ITA International as a Quality Intern has taught me a lot about cybersecurity, government contracting, and honestly myself as a whole. During my first 50 hours, I have been working on an underwater data center project and… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/cyse368-mblan013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}