Outside of the classroom, I have gained some of my most impactful experiences at Old Dominion University. I am a member of Developing Men of Color and have joined a community of students who encourage and support one another. This support system allowed me to start taking initiative in my own learning. I noticed there was an opportunity to bring cybersecurity into this community of students and created a cyber group so students could learn from each other.

The group was successful because there was something that everyone had to offer and something for everyone to learn. Regardless of a person’s level of experience, there was always something to share and questions were openly asked. Each person was able to help make sense of new concepts and ideas. I helped by creating the group, guiding its direction, and presenting concepts in a way that was accessible to people from different backgrounds. By leading the group, I learned that being a good leader does not mean having all the answers. Instead, the role of a leader is to provide a space in which people feel comfortable asking questions and progressing with one another.

I have made a direct connection between this experience and my academic major. Cybersecurity is rapidly evolving and no one person can stay on top of everything by themselves. Instead, cybersecurity relies on professionals who share knowledge and learn from each other. By creating this group, I experienced a small piece of that culture. Additionally, I enhanced skills that I utilize in my coursework and internships. Specifically, I enhanced my technical communication and my ability to work with individuals who view problems in a different light than I do.

In my future career, I will continue to apply the lessons that I have gained from this experience. As an application security professional, I will need to work with developers and communicate risk to individuals outside of the security field. Furthermore, I will continue to learn as cybersecurity evolves. By creating and leading a community of learners, I learned that I can take the initiative to build trust with others and support their success. I intend to continue to give back to the cybersecurity community, whether that is by mentoring students who are entering the cybersecurity field or by continuing to contribute to the cybersecurity community after graduation.