Susan Brown-Clukey
Old Dominion University
IDS493: Electronic Portfolio Project
Professor Carin E. Andrews
September 14, 2024
Everyone’s journey starts somewhere; some go to college right after high school, some go straight into the workforce, and some go to college later in life. Whatever the journey, one is no better than the other as it is that person’s choice and personal journey. Life’s circumstances may be a factor, including family obligations, financial obligations, prior commitments, etc.
My journey has taken me down many roads, leading to just as many experiences, all of which have contributed to the person I am today. I didn’t go to college right out of high school, but I was a part of three different careers in the last 35 years. I have worked in the medical field for 11 years; I have been a school bus driver for 23 years; my most rewarding job for 30 years is as a mom. As my children grew up, I always stressed the importance of education and told them I would return and get my bachelor’s degree one day. I am maintaining a 3.6 GPA and will graduate in Spring 2024.
How Did I Get Here
After graduating high school, I started nursing school. Unfortunately, five months shy of graduating, I found out that I had a learning disability, which caused considerable difficulties when taking tests. I loved nursing school. Although I didn’t complete nursing school due to the problems I experienced with my learning disability and with test taking, I didn’t give up when I failed; instead, I went straight to a school that would allow me to challenge the Certified Nursing Assistant boards so that I could still work in the medical field. Furthermore, I went to Tidewater Community College to take the class that would teach me how to manage my learning disability. Even today, I struggle with my learning disability, but it doesn’t control me. It just requires me to learn things a bit differently than someone else.
After receiving my CNA, I worked in several medical specialties, including the Emergency Room, Intensive Care Unit, Critical Care Unit, Cancer wing, psych, and others. I was also on the CODE team, the hard stick team, and the mental health crisis team. Back then, computers were starting to be used in hospitals, so charts and paperwork were predominantly used to track patients’ information. Computers interested me, and I found their usefulness surpassed what most companies and people used them for. That was in 1990, and by 2000, the advancements included the internet; that was the first time I thought about attending school to learn about computers. I had enquired about Saint Leo’s College and looked at enrolling in their computer programming classes, but life happened, and returning to college was placed on the back burner.
After eleven years of working in the medical field, it was time for me to take a step back and enter a career that allowed me to be available to my family more. In 2002, I started driving school buses for the city of Virginia Beach Schools. As a bus driver, I deal with children daily, parents, administration, and the public. I became interested in cybersecurity because of my many years of dealing with children and seeing how vulnerable they can be. More specifically, educating children and their families on how to be safe and internet-savvy.
What Brought Me to Cybersecurity
After spending the last 23 years driving students to and from school, seeing how the world has changed and how it could potentially affect school-aged kids, I wanted a degree in cybersecurity. With technological advances, cybercriminals have more advanced tools at their fingertips. In society, some of the most vulnerable people are the children, and without adequately educating school-aged children on how to use these same technology advancements, how are we supposed to protect them when almost everything involves technology? Protecting kids, letting them be kids, remaining kids, and keeping the bad things away from kids is my why; developing a policy, educational material, or a program that will protect children is my goal for earning my bachelor’s degree.
My College Journey
My cybersecurity journey started in the Fall of 2020 semester, when COVID hit the hardest, and everything was virtual. Not being able to be in person and have classes with hands-on experience has been a challenge but still achievable. Virtual learning was difficult for me and my learning disabilities. However, I changed my learning techniques to benefit me the most, so I earned my Associate of Sciences in Cybersecurity and an Information Technology Certification from Tidewater Community College in May 2023 with a GPA of 3.69. Earning my degree has taken longer than I would have liked, causing me to retake classes as a refresher, such as a class about Linux Systems. Retaking this class will be a refresher, but I am optimistic that I will learn valuable information that will assist me when taking my final two classes to graduate in the spring of 2025.
Conclusion
My journey may differ from others as a 53-year-old mom of six; it has been challenging, enlightening, rewarding, and exciting to see my future as I seek employment within cybersecurity. Although I may not work in cybersecurity as long as some of my classmates do, knowing I will participate in the continued development of technology and cybersecurity is exciting. I have been around long enough that I remember the first computer and what slow dial-up internet was, and my future would be to continue in some role that will educate and protect children as a cybersecurity professional.