Hello, my name is Mark Popejoy, and this is my electronic portfolio. The purpose of this portfolio is to show the skills that I have gained that are useful towards my future career and providing evidence of those skills in use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How I Would Introduce Myself Professionally<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My name is Mark Popejoy, and I\u2019m a senior at Old Dominion University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity. I have an Associate of Applied Science in Information Technology Database Specialist from Tidewater Community College. My professional goal is to work on the development and programming of robots. I want to focus on the building process of robots and ensure the programming meets cybersecurity standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key Experiences<\/strong> That Shaped My Path<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was on the robotics team when I was in middle school. I helped build the robot and learned the process of making sure the robot can complete certain tasks. I learned the difficulties in programming a robot. The countless hours I spent developing, building, programming, and testing the robot was a fulfilling experience for me. The robotics team would travel to robotic competitions and compete against other teams. During the competition, I would go to the other teams and ask questions about their robot and its\u2019 capabilities. I enjoyed the chaotic environment of testing the robot and making repairs and then watching my team\u2019s robot compete. These competitions served as learning experiences for me and taught me that anything can happen regardless of how much I prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In high school I was in an electronics class that taught me how to code. I was able to code a Pac-Man game and have it successfully run. I was able to code a stop light and a race car. I learned how complex coding is. I also learned the importance of teamwork in programming. I remember the final project for the class was to create and code a product and perform a sales pitch for the teacher. The project that I chose was building a metal arm and coding it to be able to bend like a real arm. The process of building a robotic arm and coding it to be able to act like a real arm was incredibly difficult. However, that was the easy part because I had to perform a sales pitch for my teacher. I gave a sales pitch about how robotic arms can be used with a neurological chip. I stated that the robotic arm that I built is more affordable than the expensive competition and that the arm was reliant on the impulses of the person using the arm and the only code within the arm was to make the arm move the way the person wanted. This was the first instance of cybersecurity being used to protect the robotic arm from outside threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I Learned Along the Way<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I learned the importance of patience and practice in coding. I learned that coding could cause overlapping mistakes that prevent the code from running. I\u2019ve learned that there are different programming languages and each is written differently. I\u2019ve used Python, Java, SQL, and PL\/SQL. These programming languages have different applications that are used to run the code. The importance that coding has in cybersecurity is that the code is going to do exactly what it\u2019s told to do. That can cause unforeseen vulnerabilities in the code and can be exploited by hackers and other cyberthreats. I\u2019ve learned that cybersecurity is constantly evolving and requires the proper infrastructure to support the needs of the cybersecurity. This is where cybersecurity becomes expensive. This extends to the programming within cybersecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cost to maintain and operate the proper cybersecurity infrastructure continues to climb. This is because protection from cyber threats requires resources that must be budgeted for. I learned how important budgeting to afford the proper cybersecurity infrastructure is to ensure the protection of data. It\u2019s the reason to always monitor the code and prevent any vulnerabilities before it\u2019s too late. It\u2019s important to update code and run tests against the code to see if any unnoticed vulnerabilities are present. I learned that it\u2019s important to maintain proper security clearance for the programming of cybersecurity because it limits the possibility that information could be leaked about the cybersecurity and its\u2019 infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also learned the importance of teamwork and cooperation towards the success of cybersecurity. It takes more than one person or entity to maintain and operate the cybersecurity infrastructure. There are some places that simply can\u2019t afford the infrastructure required to upgrade their cybersecurity. This is where teamwork and cooperation come into place, because not having the appropriate cybersecurity infrastructure can have a devastating outcome. This is why NATO holds annual summits to discuss the current state of cybersecurity around the world. These summits provide exercises to teach cybersecurity and the appropriate infrastructure to those who can\u2019t obtain the information on their own. The importance of cybersecurity and the proper infrastructure continues to grow because of how the cyber-attacks continue to evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where I Am Headed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I will obtain my Bachelor of Science degree in Cybersecurity and pursue opportunities that provide me with real world experience with cybersecurity. I will work towards obtaining the proper certifications for cybersecurity. My long-term goal is to be part of a team that is responsible for the development and building of robots and ensuring the proper cybersecurity infrastructure is available to protect the robots. I know that it will be a difficult process, and it requires me to have the appropriate skills and certifications to be in such an important position. I\u2019m confident in my ability to gain these skills and certifications to be involved in an important cybersecurity team. There are many challenges ahead of me and I look forward to overcoming them. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello, my name is Mark Popejoy, and this is my electronic portfolio. The purpose of this portfolio is to show the skills that I have gained that are useful towards my future career and providing evidence of those skills in use. How I Would Introduce Myself Professionally \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My name is Mark Popejoy, and I\u2019m … Continue reading Welcome<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31144,"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\/ids493-markp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ids493-markp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ids493-markp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ids493-markp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ids493-markp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ids493-markp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ids493-markp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123\/revisions\/205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ids493-markp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}