Personal Narrative Essay
Ryan Reaves
Old Dominion University
IDS 493
1/29/2026

How my Cyber Security Journey Started

My decision to pursue a career that I like did not happen overnight. I believe that it
came to me because of some experiences throughout college and times of confusion
that allowed me to understand what I like and what I was good at. My name is Ryan
Reaves and I am currently a senior at Old Dominion University and I am studying
Cybersecurity. My story shows a transition from liking technology in general to wanting
to protect systems, information, and others in a world that is mainly ran by technology.
I was born and raised in Chesapeake, Virginia. An area that is close to the military and
government. I was born in 2003 so I was able to watch technology and computers grow
a lot which raised my interest in how things worked on a deeper level. I always found
myself troubleshooting things when they went wrong, messing with settings on
whatever technology I could get my hands on, and wanting to know why something
didn’t work instead of just thinking it was broken and that’s why it didn’t work.
Heading into college I knew I wanted to do something in technology. When I first
started at Old Dominion University, a University in Norfolk, Virginia, I declared myself
as a Computer science major. Computer science had seemed like the “normal” route for
someone who enjoyed technology. At the time I thought computer science would open
up the most career fields and teach me the most about the technical side of things. The
more I learned about programming and got closer to actually starting CS at ODU, I
realized that yes I enjoyed programming and thinking about theory but I didn’t see any passion in a career path. Right when classes were about to start in August I was
thinking about if computer science was really going to fit in my long term plans. Even
though I do like softwares and algorithms, I like problem solving more. I wanted
something that felt more impactful and tied to real world problems. Something you
always had to be improving in and never felt like you were doing the same thing day in
and day out until retirement.

This period of uncertainty became a turning point. I started looking at different majors
in the technology field and came across cyber security. Cyber security had clear defined
roles such as security analyst, penetration tester, incident responder, and risk analyst. I
liked these roles more because they combined technical knowledge with strategy and
investigation. Cybersecurity was not just about building and designing systems it was
about protecting them.

Old Dominion University has a good cyber security program that focuses on technical
side with policy, ethics, and risk management. After looking at the classes I needed to
take for the major I made the decision to switch my major. This marked an important
moment in my academic journey since I would have been taking completely different
classes and it was the first time I felt that my studies went along with the career path I
could see myself doing till retirement.

The cyber security work felt more engaging and interesting. I was taught the main
concepts like the CIA Triad which is confidentiality, integrity, and availability, which is
the backbone of information security. I also learned about frameworks like the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cyber security framework, which
organizations use to manage and reduce risk. These concepts helped me understand
cybersecurity as a more strategic thing that supports businesses.
The main part of my cybersecurity education has been the hands on learning that is
needed for it. We did labs and projects where I gained experience working with
operating systems and Linux. These technical skills allowed me to better understand
how systems function and how vulnerabilities can happen if they are not secured.

My Personal Project

My favorite project in my academic career was making a file integrity monitoring
system that I made my sophomore year of school from scratch. File integrity
monitoring is a security technique used to detect unauthorized changes to files, which
can mean that there is malware or an insider threat. Designing this system needed me
to use multiple skills at once like programming logic and system monitoring. Doing this
project helped my ability to solve complex security problems and confirmed that cyber
security was the right field for me.

My Internship Experience

My internship experience will play a big role in shaping my career. Going from the
classroom to a professional environment let me see how cybersecurity is done in the
real world. I was hired by the Cyber Security Clinic at Old Dominion University where I
gained experience in risk assessment processes and operational workflows. We worked
with small businesses to help them improve their cybersecurity posture.

This experience helped me understand the importance of communication and
collaboration in cybersecurity roles. Security professionals have to be able to explain
technical risks to nontechnical people, write clear reports, and make recommendations
that balance security with business needs. Doing this internship helped me with
understanding of what it truly means to work in cybersecurity.

As I approach graduation, I see cybersecurity as a career that will continue to challenge
and engage me. Since the field is constantly changing, requiring me to learn and adapt
which is what I love about cyber security cause if it gets repetitive I will get bored. I am
mainly interested in roles that focus on penetration testing and risk management,
where I can use both technical skills with analytical thinking.

Conclusion

This eportfolio shows both my growth and my professional progress. It shows the
projects and experiences and shows my commitment to building a career in cyber
security. From my early interest in technology to my decision to pursue cyber security
at Old Dominion University, each step has helped solidify who I am and where I am
headed.

In conclusion, my journey has taught me that choosing a career is not about finding the
perfect job at first, but about paying attention to what keeps you interested in the long
run and then focus on slowly getting there. Cyber security offers me meaningful work
and the opportunity to make a positive impact, things that make this career path the
right choice for me.