Submitted as part of the IDS 493 ePortfolio Project.

Introduction

I am completing my degree in Cybersecurity at Old Dominion University, with a professional focus that spans network infrastructure, independent software development, and small-business operations. Alongside coursework, I built and launched Thrive, an iOS wellness app, and I work as a camera operator for FloSports while handling networking for a family-run wrestling tournament. The three skills highlighted in my ePortfolio are network infrastructure design and segmentation, software development with end-to-end iOS ownership, and independent business operations and stakeholder communication. I chose these because they represent the full range of what I do: designing and securing networks organizations depend on, building and shipping a real product from scratch, and running the business and communication work that keeps a project alive after the code is written.

Skill 1: Network Infrastructure Design and Segmentation

Network infrastructure design is central to cybersecurity because a network’s topology and segmentation determine how contained a breach can be and how reliably services stay available. Three artifacts in my portfolio demonstrate this skill. The first is a wired network design for Maury High School, where I built an extended-star topology with a main distribution frame and three intermediate distribution frames, specified Cat6A horizontal cabling with a 10G OM4 fiber backbone, and segmented the network into four VLANs — staff, students, management, and printers/AV — behind a UniFi Dream Machine Pro firewall. The second is a wired infrastructure design for Constant Hall, a two-floor building with three telecom closets, where I planned Cat6A plenum cabling, patch panels, workgroup switches, and a core aggregation switch to tie the floors together. The third is an earlier redesign in which I converted a flat, single-router network into a two-subnet architecture using static routing. For each design I specified equipment — Monoprice for cabling and Ubiquiti UniFi for active gear — and delivered itemized budgets alongside diagrams. In a workplace setting, this skill lets me evaluate a network’s weaknesses, design segmentation that limits lateral movement during an incident, and communicate tradeoffs in terms budget owners can act on.

Skill 2: Software Development (iOS End-to-End Ownership)

Software development is valuable in my field because understanding how systems are built and secured makes me a stronger analyst of the systems I don’t build myself. My primary artifact is Thrive, an iOS app I designed, built, and published to the App Store on my own. I built the entire app end-to-end in SwiftUI and SwiftData, including an Apple Watch companion app, home-screen widget extensions, food barcode scanning, a friends and leaderboard system, and a skip journal that logs when users bypass a task. I also made the underlying data and privacy decisions myself — for example, choosing to store friend codes locally rather than in the cloud, and determining exactly which App Store privacy nutrition label declarations the app required. Because I owned every layer of the app, from UI to data model to App Store compliance, I had to think like both a developer and a security-conscious product owner at once. That combination is directly relevant to cybersecurity: employers need people who understand how software is actually constructed, where data lives, and what a minimal, defensible privacy footprint looks like.

Skill 3: Independent Business Operations & Stakeholder Communication

The third skill covers everything required to keep an independent project running once the technical build is done: operations, marketing, and communicating with outside stakeholders. My clearest artifact is the growth and marketing work behind Thrive, where I independently ran influencer outreach to creators across TikTok and other platforms, planned ad campaign concepts for Meta and TikTok, and selected and integrated AppsFlyer as the app’s mobile measurement partner. I wrote my own outreach messaging, negotiated partnership terms myself, and made judgment calls about which campaign ideas were worth pursuing. A second artifact is my long-running role with the Virginia Challenge, a nonprofit wrestling tournament run by my family, where since age 13 I have independently handled camera operation and event networking — running cable, troubleshooting connectivity live, and getting wrestling clocks working over Ethernet so results display correctly for broadcast. A third is my ongoing work as a camera operator for FloSports, operating independently on live broadcasts with minimal oversight. Across all three, the common thread is that I take ownership of a problem end-to-end and communicate clearly with whoever depends on the outcome.

Describing My Skills to an Employer or Supervisor

Network Infrastructure Design and Segmentation: I designed wired network architectures for two building projects, including full VLAN segmentation and equipment specification, so I understand how topology decisions directly affect an organization’s exposure to a breach. For example, my Maury High School design used four separate VLANs behind a dedicated firewall specifically to keep student and staff traffic from being able to reach management systems.

Software Development: I built and published a live iOS app, Thrive, entirely on my own, from the SwiftUI interface down to the data model and App Store privacy declarations. That end-to-end ownership means I understand both how software gets built and where its security and privacy risks actually live, not just how to evaluate it from the outside.

Independent Business Operations & Stakeholder Communication: I have run outreach, marketing, and technical operations independently since I was a teenager, from negotiating influencer partnerships for my app to handling all of the live networking for a nonprofit sports tournament my family runs. I’m comfortable being the only person responsible for an outcome and communicating clearly with whoever is depending on it.

Strongest Skill Reflection

Of the three, I consider independent business operations and stakeholder communication my strongest skill, because it’s the one I’ve been developing the longest and the one that shows up across every part of my life. I started developing it at thirteen, running camera operation and networking for the Virginia Challenge with no formal training and no one to hand the problem off to. That experience taught me to solve problems on my own and stay consistent under pressure, and it’s the same instinct I later relied on to run Thrive’s marketing and growth work without a team. FloSports reinforced it further by requiring me to work independently on live broadcasts where mistakes are visible immediately. Going forward, I want to apply this skill in a cybersecurity role where I can own an investigation or a project end-to-end and communicate its status and risks clearly to non-technical stakeholders.

Applying My Skills Going Forward

After graduation, I plan to keep growing Thrive while pursuing cybersecurity roles, since running my own app keeps my technical and communication skills sharp in a way classroom work alone can’t. I also intend to pursue hands-on network security certifications to formalize the segmentation and infrastructure design work I’ve already been doing in coursework and independent projects.