Introduction
My experience at ODU has been a big part of my life the last few years. I learned a lot, not just in class, but about myself too. Some of the main skills I picked up were critical thinking, writing, research, communication, and using different digital tools. I practiced these skills through my major and minor, and taking classes in cybersecurity, criminal justice, and interdisciplinary studies helped me look at problems from a lot of different angles.

Program Reflection

One of the best parts of my time at ODU was seeing how different subjects connect to real life. In cybersecurity, I learned the technical side. My other classes helped me think about the law, ethics, and people too. It made me realize you cannot just know one thing. You have to see the bigger picture.

It was not always easy. Balancing school, work, and life was tough sometimes. There were times I was overwhelmed and had to really push myself to stay organized and not give up. Breaking down big assignments into smaller pieces and asking for help when I needed it made a huge difference.

Classes I took early on definitely helped me finish strong. Research projects, essays, and getting used to deadlines prepared me for the bigger stuff later on. Learning how to use tools like WordPress and Google Drive earlier made building my ePortfolio a lot less stressful too.

IDS 493 Reflection

IDS 493 is the class where you build your professional ePortfolio. It is all online and you work at your own pace each week, but you still have deadlines and you do peer reviews to help each other. Each week you build different pages like your About Me, Resume, and Reflection pages. You also focus on making your site look good and be easy for people to use.

One thing I really liked learning was how to organize everything so it makes sense to other people, not just me. I also paid more attention to how design and accessibility matter, like making sure colors, fonts, and links work for everyone.

I am most proud of how my Resume page turned out. If someone could only see one thing, I would tell them to look at that page because it shows my education, my skills, and what I am aiming for next.

The hardest part for me was thinking about accessibility. At first, I did not really think about it, but after getting feedback, I realized how important it is. I went back and made changes like adding alt text to images, using better headings, and fixing colors to make sure it is readable for everybody.

If I had more time, I would add more examples of my work and maybe clean up the design a little more. Having experience with writing and digital tools in other classes definitely helped me get through this course without too much stress.

Conclusion
Looking back, interdisciplinary thinking was a huge part of my learning at ODU. Being able to pull from different fields and connect ideas helped me understand problems better and gave me more ways to solve them. I am glad I did not just focus on one thing. Being able to combine cybersecurity, criminal justice, and ethics made me a stronger student and will make me a better professional too.

Being an interdisciplinary thinker matters, especially in fields like cybersecurity, because you have to think about the tech side and the people side. After ODU, my next step is to get into the cybersecurity field, keep building my experience, and keep learning. IDS 493 helped me pull everything together and end my degree with something I am really proud of.