{"id":422,"date":"2026-03-09T19:45:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/?page_id=422"},"modified":"2026-03-09T19:45:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:45:13","slug":"reflective-essay","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/reflective-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflective Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In pursuing a technical degree such as with Cybersecurity, it truly helped me see how just having technical knowledge is not enough to thrive. The most meaningful experiences that I have had came from learning how to think analytically, solve problems in a precise way, acting as a professional, and communicating technical information in a clear manner. It was these skills that helped reflect the core learning of cybersecurity. In cybersecurity, it requires not just knowing a system and the threats that you could face online, but it also requires making the best decisions, behaving in an ethical manner, and explaining the many risks and threats to others. In building my artifacts for the electronic portfolio, I realized how each project that I have completed along the way has represented so much more than a deadline and a grade. All of them have shown a path towards growth in accomplishing challenges, responding to tasks quickly and efficiently, and communicating effectively for the future cybersecurity environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through growing my analytical thinking and problem solving abilities, it has become critical and central to overall academic experience. It also helped me strongly connect to the learning themes of identifying a threat, evaluating any vulnerabilities, and applying the appropriate controls to minimize the effects. With cybersecurity, a problem is rarely a simple one or isolated one. They would require more careful eyes through investigations, recognizing patterns, and having an eye for connecting the technical information towards a larger picture. Through my portfolio artifacts with cybersecurity labs, coding assignments, and writing assignments, it shows how I have grown to approach a problem in a more structured way. It is through doing these assignments that I was able to have a more methodical process in gathering info, analyzing the issue, and forming the solution to solve various complex problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having professionalism was another essential part of my Cybersecurity education. This is because it is a value that comes from having proper ethics, accountability, and gaining the trust of other people. A cybersecurity professional is responsible for protecting important information and data. A lot of this information can be very sensitive. Having improper professionalism would mean serious consequences for an organization or individual. It was through my coursework that I learned the importance of being responsible, following various standards, meeting a deadline, and considering different ethical sides of security practices. These lessons became clear in my artifacts of my various writing assignments on policies and procedures in the cybersecurity field. It is important that professionalism is reflected through your conduct and your work. Through these artifacts, it shows my growth in making ethical decisions and being professional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Developing better technical communication has become one of the most valuable skills that I have developed through my degree. A professional in cybersecurity would have to explain the most complex problems to a client that would have a range of technical knowledge. This aligns with the stuff that is expected of a degree including having proper documentation, reporting, and communication. In creating the artifacts for the portfolio, I learned that having strong work, it means not just finding the best answer, but presenting the answer in the most clear way. My artifacts are presented through various reports that go into detail on the most technical problems and concepts where I feel I have explained the information in the most clear way as I could. In having the best technical communication, it shows that even if you have all the technical knowledge, you also have to communicate it in a clear way too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through looking at all three skills, it was clear to see how professionalism, analytical thinking, and technical communication can work together to reflect how much I have learned through my cybersecurity degree. Professionalism helped me approach problems in the most ethical and responsible way. In being an analytical thinker, it helps me identify and solve complex issues and problems. In developing better technical communication, it helped me learn how to share information and decisions in a clear and explainable approach. Through the artifacts of my portfolio, it told a story of how I developed my skills over time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In pursuing a technical degree such as with Cybersecurity, it truly helped me see how just having technical knowledge is not enough to thrive. The most meaningful experiences that I have had came from learning how to think analytically, solve problems in a precise way, acting as a professional, and communicating technical information in a&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/reflective-essay\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":30971,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30971"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":423,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/422\/revisions\/423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/dberr012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}