Introduction

My time with the Cybersecurity program at ODU has been nothing short of wonderful. My professors were knowledgeable and my peers were wonderful to work with. During my time, I learned valuable skills in technical aspects such as network monitoring, penetration testing, ethical hacking, and core cybersecurity practices. I also learned excellent forms of communication, teamwork, and professionalism. My Cyberterrorism and Cyber Law courses taught me the nuances and intricacies of cyber crime and the challenge that goes behind defending and legally reprimanding attackers. My ethical hacking and network security courses taught me fundamentals in defending and attacking systems, as well as the movement data follows when traveling within a network.

Program Reflection

• Challenges and Solutions: A large challenge I faced personally was trying to comprehend the nature of what I was working with. Having a minor in Computer science, most of what I have worked with has been purely theoretical. Understanding key concepts and then applying those concepts to real world practices turned out to be a large challenge for me. Overcoming this challenge included  practicing in virtual environments in my own time, observing the concepts we talked about in lectures and noting how different concepts interacted with each other. For example, I personally noted the visual impact Nmap has when scanning a network monitored with Wireshark, effectively allowing me to recognize what a network scan looks like in real time.
• Interdisciplinary Connections: This course enhanced my understanding of the practical applications my coursework would have in a professional setting. Forcing myself to view the actions I took during my studies through a professional perspective allowed me to better understand and convey what I have learned during my time at ODU. This perspective shift better developed my understanding of the material I was explaining. This course caused an excellent chain-reaction of learning to reflection then to further understanding of the material. 

IDS 493 Specific Reflection

• IDS 493 had students create a professional e-portfolio documenting their time spent at ODU. The course required students to fill out several pages listing their courses taken during their studies, awards and achievements gained, and professional experience gained that could be applied after graduation. IDS 493 is aimed to prepare students for applications and develop a professional identity by allowing the students to craft their image under guidance of the professor, all while being peer reviewed by other IDS 493 students.  
• Skills Application: I attained proficiency in web element designs and accessibility functions through CSS code when designing my home page for the e-portfolio. Having this skill allowed me to make my homepage stand out and be easily accessible to those who may need it by including custom code for the readability of the text.
• Personal Growth: I attained the ability to shift my perspective to see through a more professional lens. One specific example is when I added my undergraduate research project to my portfolio. Before this course, I had almost blown off the importance of the project. This course allowed me to convey the importance of this research project and convey the different levels of professionalism, technical skill, and communication required to complete it. Before this course, I could only describe my research as a small part of my academic career. However, now, it serves as a staple achievement I completed during the acquisition of my minor in computer science. 
• Future Application: The skills I gained in IDS 493 will be skills that I utilize daily for the rest of my academic and professional career. Being able to convey my accomplishments and summarize skills and concepts to a wide audience will be extremely beneficial not only in communicating amongst peers, but for instance talking to clients about technically advanced concepts. Having the ability to shift my perspective to target audiences and tailor my communication around them will be invaluable when it comes to interviews, reports, papers, and every other form of communication. 

Conclusion

Across all the courses I have taken at ODU, every single one has provided me with at least one key takeaway that can be applied to every future class I take. For example, my psychology courses I took in my freshman year helped me understand the mentality of attackers and criminals I came across in case studies during my Cyberterrorism and Cyber Law courses. My programming courses taught me industry standard practices regarding commercially used software and allowed me to critically analyze the programs we used in our cyber security studies, allowing for a deeper understanding of the data we were gathering with tools such as Wireshark and StegHide. 

After graduation, I will feel prepared to pursue a career in cybersecurity, specifically offering my knowledge to assist law enforcement in dealing with cybercrime. I have become proficient not only in the technical aspects of cybercrime, but the personal, professional, and legal aspects as well. My skills attained through every single course taken at ODU allow me to tackle any issue with an analytical and methodical approach, applying what I have learned to come to an informed conclusion.