{"id":27,"date":"2021-08-13T21:43:03","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T21:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/oducleaders\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2025-05-03T00:12:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T00:12:35","slug":"academic-internship","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mrabi-eportfolio\/academic-internship\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic Internship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Academic Internship \u2013 CYSE 368: Cybersecurity Internship<\/p>\n

Internship Description<\/p>\n

In my final year at Old Dominion University, I completed a 300-hour cybersecurity internship through the CyberNavigator program. This was a Department of Defense-funded experience focused on practical application of cybersecurity in public sector environments. I worked alongside state election officials and cybersecurity mentors to assess risks, review policies, and contribute to digital infrastructure protection\u2014specifically within Virginia\u2019s election systems.<\/p>\n

The role centered around Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC), which aligns closely with my long-term career focus. I used this opportunity to sharpen my technical thinking, apply frameworks like NIST CSF and RMF, and gain experience working in a mission-critical environment where small mistakes could have big consequences.<\/p>\n

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Work Samples
\u2022 CNIP Cyber Navigator Internship Project
Locality Status Report
\u2013 \u201cLocality Status Reports 24-07-03\u201d
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This document breaks down election system vulnerabilities in rural counties and proposes a layered, GRC-informed mitigation strategy.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Capstone Slide Deck \u2013 \u201cCyber Risk and AI Governance in Public Infrastructure\u201d
Presented to fellow interns and election officials as part of the program wrap-up. Focused on integrating AI ethics into cybersecurity policy.
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Reflection<\/p>\n

This internship wasn\u2019t just about checking a box\u2014it helped clarify what kind of work actually matters to me. I was placed in situations where I had to communicate clearly with non-technical professionals, write with precision, and manage my time across multiple moving parts.<\/p>\n

The experience pushed me to be more self-directed, more focused, and more grounded. It also reminded me that calm, strategic leadership is often what makes the biggest impact in cybersecurity. I didn\u2019t need to talk the most\u2014I needed to be clear, accurate, and trusted.<\/p>\n

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Skills Developed<\/p>\n

Through this experience, I developed several career-critical skills:
\u2022 Decision-making and problem solving: Created structured recommendations based on real-world threat modeling and risk assessments.
\u2022 Communication: Learned how to present technical findings to stakeholders with no security background\u2014clarity was key.
\u2022 Time management: Balanced fieldwork, reflection journals, and final deliverables while working other jobs and managing classes.
\u2022 Technical knowledge: Applied cybersecurity frameworks in real scenarios, not just classroom simulations.<\/p>\n

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Connection to My Goals<\/p>\n

This internship confirmed that GRC is the space I want to work in\u2014especially at the intersection of public impact, infrastructure, and emerging technology like AI. I plan to pursue roles in Atlanta or Northern Virginia that allow me to continue working on high-responsibility projects.<\/p>\n

More than anything, this experience helped me realize I don\u2019t have to change who I am to succeed\u2014I just need to stay focused, stay clear, and keep building from a strong foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Academic Internship \u2013 CYSE 368: Cybersecurity Internship Internship Description In my final year at Old Dominion University, I completed a 300-hour cybersecurity internship through the CyberNavigator program. This was a Department of Defense-funded experience focused on practical application of cybersecurity in public sector environments. I worked alongside state election officials and cybersecurity mentors to assess … Continue reading Academic Internship<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21125,"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\/mrabi-eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mrabi-eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mrabi-eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mrabi-eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mrabi-eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mrabi-eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mrabi-eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mrabi-eportfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}