My experience with the cybersecurity program, and with ODU as a whole, has been a relatively positive one. At first, it was a difficult transition from TCC to ODU, but after settling into my first semester, I eventually got into a groove. What I will say is that it has been frustrating for me to try to get into contact with many of my professors in asynchronous classes (not this class). That has applied more pressure to me in terms of essentially self-teaching to try and solve whatever assignment I had questions or was stuck on, since getting in touch with said professors is impossible. I would also say that not enough courses have hands on or tactile learning with cybersecurity policies and procedures. Thankfully, I did this myself with personal projects, but I am assuming many will be left behind without hands on experience.
Some of the most valuable skills that I learned while at ODU would be CYSE 270, IDS 300, and CYSE 301. CYSE 270 was a Linux course, which began peaking my interest in Linux to the point of using it as a daily driver at this point. Without that class, my interest surround Linux would likely be less. IDS 300 is an interdisciplinary writing class. I found it to be very engaging, and taught me strategies of how to gather information from different disciplines, and synthesize them together to create a combined and cohesive insight. CYSE 301 is a cybersecurity techniques class that specifically taught me how to use tools that I may need in the field. For example, if I ever became a penetration tester, I would have to think this class for teaching me how to use tools such as Metasploit. These are what I would qualify as both the most important skills, and the most important learning experiences I have gained from ODU
The obstacles that I have encountered during ODU mainly relate to personal tragedy and personal issues that I genuinely have zero desire to discuss. Pertaining strictly to ODU, I addressed these issues by having clear communication with my professors to ensure that they are aware that the issue that were happening in my life would take precedence over anything relating to school. In turn, my professors were mostly understanding, and gave me grace periods and exceptions to make up missing work.
Previous courses that I took at TCC helped me to pass the cybersecurity program at ODU by providing me with a groundwork to build from. Those classes gave me a generalized understanding of concepts, such as how network protocols work, how systems can be penetrated and compromised, etc,. With that baseline understanding, it became easier for me to get up to speed with the requirements being asked of me during my time at ODU.
For those who have not taken it yet, IDS 493 is an accelerated course, where you must make a website centered around you. The ultimate goal is to make a webpage that advertises yourself to potential jobs, or to someone in your industry of choice who may take interest in you. It is also designed to make you reflect on your own skills, experiences, and interest while you create your webpage. The most interesting concepts that I have personally learned during my time with this course would be how surprisingly difficult it is to be reflective of yourself. I felt as if I would draw a blank every time I am forced to reflect on my own skills and talents. I do not know why it is difficult for me, but this class has certainly made it easier for me to be reflective of my own professional progress.
What I believe I did well concerning my portfolio was conveying my skills with specific examples. I think a pitfall in terms of presenting yourself is listing skills that you possess, without actually describing specific instances or examples. Without specific context or proof, you are just stating skills you have. With specific context or proof, you are demonstrating that A: you can do said skills, and B: you are demonstrating exactly how you apply them. One thing I did not do well in this course is working on my portfolio on a routine schedule, What I did to remedy this is nothing: I have always worked in bursts, rather than on a repeated schedule. I would not say that it’s a good or bad habit, but it is the habit that consistently produces my best academic output. I like to work when the flame is hot so to speak. With more time, I could absolutely improve the aesthetics and appearance of my website, instead of centralizing my attention on the content of the site itself.
Previous courses have greatly helped me with this course. Specifically CYSE 201S had me create an e-portfolio. Having existing familiarity with using WordPress has made the barrier to entry for this course significantly less than it otherwise would be. In addition to that, IDS 300 gave me a better understanding of interdisciplinary research and studies, which also made this course easier. Specifically, it has made it easier for me to grab ideas and information from across my academic career at ODU, and intertwine them into a new conclusion.
Drawing ideas from the last paragraph, ideas from previous interdisciplinary courses has greatly improved my understanding of this course. It made it easier for me to combine ideas from previous courses, and create overviews of how the combined knowledge gained from those courses has improved my skills. In my field of study, it’s extremely important to be an interdisciplinary thinker. This is largely due to good cybersecurity practices being rooted in ideas from several different disciplines, such as networking, computer science, operating system knowledge, etc,.
After ODU, I plan on completing essentially required certifications over the summer, and then seeking out a new job from the one I have now. I am extremely excited to be done with college, ready to learn outside of it, and ready to start making “real money”.