Final Course Reflection

Introduction: 

  • Describe your experience within the Cybersecurity program in particular and ODU in general. 
  • Describe the skills you most value that you learned/practiced in your degree program and the courses & disciplines from which they came.

Cybersecurity wasn’t my first choice when I enrolled for my bachelor’s degree at Old Dominion University (ODU). My first program was Healthcare Service Administration which was a direct career path for my job in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman (the Navy’s version of a medic in the military). However, while going through the program and still on active duty, I had the privilege to work in the legal department of the Military health system doing some investigative work and processing compliance requests such as HIPAA and FOIA which steered my focus into information assurance and compliance in healthcare as well as some of the administrative duties of the health administrator in ensuring Compliance requirement in the healthcare system. This strong desire to protect information systems and ensure compliance led me into Cybersecurity which has been a great choice for my career so far.

In  almost two years since I started my degree in cybersecurity, it has been a great experience that enabled me skills and knowledge from courses taught by some of the professors that I can currently use in my professional career now. Through my degree in Cybersecurity, I have come to understand very important topics like Ethics and Law through my PHIL 355E (Cybersecurity ethics) and Digital Law classes. The lessons learned from these classes are life-changing and can help me excel as a cybersecurity Professional. I was also privy to some technical skills like Linux, python, and some digital forensics which are equally needed skills in the job market today.

Program Reflection: Include separate body paragraphs a discussion of your experiences within the program:

  • What have been the most valuable learning experiences from your time at ODU? 
  • What obstacles have you encountered during your learning experiences? How did you address these issues or figure out the process as you completed the program? 
  • How did previous courses or experiences help you complete the program

There are many valuable learning experiences I have had in my time at ODU, but of all these experiences, the most valuable ones are the labs that were available for some of the technical courses taken for my degree, these labs such as networking scanning, digital forensics, programming have been immensely helpful to me as a cybersecurity professional. I am now able to use tools like Wireshark, ACAS scanners, and Virtual machines (VM) in my daily work which has also boosted my confidence level.

My time at ODU also came with its share of obstacles that I encountered in my program. I believe some of the courses would have been better taken in-person class setting where it would have been easier to approach the professors in case of any issues with the materials being taught. However, this was not possible because of the situation with COVID, and some professors were not the best in some of the online classes which is an issue of immense importance. Another obstacle was some technical issues in the labs and some of the online classes. Issues ranging from connectivity, sound, and even video were some great challenges. Although these challenges presented themselves, I was happy with how the department responded to some of these issues, the professors were accommodating, and the technical team was always on top of these technical issues making it tolerable through the period.

Online classes can be tedious for some classes but having previously been through different online programs and my time in the military helped me greatly in completing my program. Time management was the biggest hurdle for online classes which could sometimes be hard, but the professors were helpful in the process especially if they are aware of any delaying situation ahead of time.

IDS 493 Reflection: Include separate body paragraphs a discussion of your experiences within IDS 493 specifically

  • Please describe the course in your own words for someone who is unfamiliar with the course.
  • What have been the most valuable or interesting concepts you learned or practiced during IDS 493?
  • What do you think you did particularly well in your portfolio? What are you most proud of? If someone could look at only one thing in your portfolio, what would you point them to?
  • What obstacles have you encountered during your learning experiences within IDS 493? How did you address these issues as you completed IDS 493? 
  • What do you think you could improve  in your portfolio with more time? 
  • How did previous courses or experiences help you complete the course?

The IDS 493 course is one of the most cherished classes I have had to take for my degree by far. Coming from a background with little to no designing, or creating website experience, this course is the perfect course for anyone who wants to learn how to design their web content for any platform. This course equips one with the tools to build a website from scratch. Through this course, you will be able to design any platform using the eyes of someone who sees things from many different perspectives and brings them to life. You will learn color combination and coordination, the application of different design elements, and how to send a message using certain media without using words. I can confidently say that after taking this course website design will come easily to anyone.

The skills in design selection, types of media placement, and usage are just a few concepts I learned through this course (IDS 493). These skills have clarified how different blogs and websites are created and how I can help improve my design skills or help others work on their design projects. Through this course, I have come to understand how many little tricks in designing like consistency in font color and size can make a difference in how information is presented to various eyes and the understanding of such information. Given the chance, I would like anyone to look at my site structure and my about me page for how I designed it according to the inspiration and look I had in mind for my site.

My lack of experience in designing was my biggest obstacle. I have always shunned away from anything designing and using any designing tools like WordPress so having to use this tool in designing my site was psychological warfare but after getting exposed to it and playing around with it, I was able to get the feel of how to use it. The tools given by the teacher and the peer reviews also helped in overcoming these obstacles. Also, If I have more time, I will add more media to my site to make it more appealing to the eye.

Going forward, I would like to work with other designing tools like WiX to learn the different styles of web content creation and how to edit and incorporate videos in my portfolio or any future web content I may create. In a previous class, we were made to create a portfolio using WordPress, but it wasn’t as extensive as IDS 493. Some of the knowledge in that class also made it easy for me to use WordPress.

Conclusion: 

  • Consider the skills, courses, and program as a whole. 
  • How were interdisciplinary methods and theories important to your understanding of your coursework? What connections did you draw between your various courses?
  • Why is it important to be an interdisciplinary thinker in your field of study?
  • What will be your next steps after ODU?

Having gone through the program, I am pleased to have had the opportunity to obtain my Cybersecurity through Old Dominion University. Every course and skill provided through the program are industry specific hence equipping myself and other students with the needed tools to succeed in the cybersecurity field. The live and Virtual labs available to the students, and the internship programs/opportunities that the faculty makes available make every student ready for the job market.

Cybersecurity as a field is one with many different disciplines such as math, engineering, law, and humanities making the interdisciplinary methods and theories an integral part of the program. Courses like Networking, Cryptography, and programming are mostly math centered so understanding math helped in getting through the course. An all-rounded interdisciplinary thinker is a key to excelling as a cybersecurity professional because of the array of disciplines fused into the field. In order to understand a particular security incident it is important to know the overall big picture and using an interdisciplinary approach may help in addressing the issue more quickly.

My next step after graduating will be working on more industry certifications and learning more about cloud systems which is the new direction in cybersecurity and enrolling in a graduate program which will further broaden my understanding of cybersecurity and make me marketable for the job market. I will also be looking for roles to apply my newly acquired skills and knowledge to any industry, especially the federal and consulting space in the fight against cyber-crimes.