CYBERSECURITY INTERNSHIP ( CYSE 368 )
This internship course allowed me to work with the local government, the City of Suffolk, as a Cyber Risk Management Specialist. In this role, I gained hands-on experience working with Tenable, a vulnerability management tool, and collaborated with my team to help the organization identify and manage cyber vulnerabilities and risks.
Furthermore, this internship course offered several positive outcomes, including engaging lectures from guest speakers, and opportunities to enhance both soft skills and technical skills. I thoroughly enjoyed every session, as each speaker shared valuable insights that ultimately helped me perform more effectively when working with the client and collaborating with my team. Reflecting on the experience, I now realize that the in-class activities were thoughtfully designed to prepare and equip us for a more positive and successful internship experience. Unlike other internships that may require students to begin work immediately without this kind of preparation, this program provided meaningful training beforehand. This made the experience truly unique and especially valuable.
I have personally learned a lot from this experience. Through Dr. During Baaki’s sessions, I learned how to practice empathy, which I think significantly enhanced my ability to work effectively with my team and the client. In addition, I further developed my technical skills by learning how to use Tenable, and by gaining experience in creating detailed technical reports. Furthermore, I have conquered my fear of public speaking. As a non-native English speaker with an introverted personality, public speaking is always a big challenge for me. However, this experience helped me grow and be better at public speaking. I noticed a clear improvement in my confidence between my first dry-run presentation and the final team executive reflection presentation, during which I felt far less nervous. Overall, this experience taught me that stepping outside of my comfort zone is essential for personal growth and continuous improvement.
Lastly, as I prepare to graduate, I truly value this experience, and I am deeply grateful to Old Dominion University and the School of Cybersecurity for this wonderful opportunity. I am confident that this exposure and hands-on learning will help me pursue and secure a role as a cybersecurity analyst.
