Source<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Original work created for IDS 493 Electronic Portfolio Project (Spring 2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What It Is<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
A 1,200-word personal narrative essay that tells the story of how I came to cybersecurity. The essay covers my background as a first-generation college student from Alexandria, Virginia. It walks through my journey from coming into college unsure of my path to finding cybersecurity as my calling. It also covers my real-world experience as a SOC Analyst and where I am headed after graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why This Artifact Shows the Skill<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Writing this essay was harder than writing technical papers. It is one thing to break down cryptography or analyze a policy. It is another to tell your own story in a way that feels honest and real. I had to find a voice that was professional but still personal. I had to choose what to include and what to leave out. I had to make every paragraph earn its place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This artifact shows that I can communicate beyond just technical topics. McAdams writes that people understand themselves through the stories they tell. Building this narrative pushed me to look at my own path and pull out the lessons that mattered. It also gave me something I can share with future employers who want to know who I am beyond a resume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Communication in cybersecurity is not always about writing reports. Sometimes it is about telling a clear story. About a breach. About a risk. About yourself. This essay proves I can do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Artifact Title<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
IDS 300W Author Insights Table: How Different Disciplines View Social Media and Identity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IDS 300W: Interdisciplinary Theory and Concepts (Fall 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n A research table that compares how five different academic disciplines view the same topic. The topic is social media and identity in young adults. The table pulls insights from Psychology, Media and Cultural Studies, Sociology, Developmental Psychology, and a combined Sociology and Media Studies lens. Each row presents the discipline, a key author, and a clear summary of their main argument with proper APA citations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This artifact proves I can read across disciplines and pull out the meaning. That is harder than it sounds. Each field uses different language. Each field asks different questions. Each field measures different things. To build this table, I had to study peer-reviewed research from five different academic spaces. Then I had to translate each into plain English that any reader could follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Repko and Szostak write that interdisciplinary research depends on integrating perspectives from multiple fields. This table is exactly that work in action. It does not just summarize. It compares. It shows where authors agree, where they disagree, and where they look at the same problem through different lenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This skill matters in cybersecurity. A breach is never just a technical issue. It involves law, ethics, psychology, business, and policy. The professional who can read across these areas and pull them together is the one who solves real problems. This artifact proves I can do that kind of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n IDS 300W Reflection: How Disciplines Connect to Explain Social Media Identity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IDS 300W: Interdisciplinary Theory and Concepts (Fall 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n A written reflection that explains a flowchart I built. The flowchart shows how three different academic disciplines connect to explain identity on social media. Psychology, Sociology, and Media and Cultural Studies each have their own path. All three paths lead to one shared idea. Online identity is shaped by emotions, social interaction, and platform rules working together at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Communication is not just about writing words. Sometimes it is about turning ideas into visuals. Then writing about those visuals in clear language. This artifact does both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Building the flowchart forced me to find the threads that tied three different fields together. Writing the reflection forced me to explain those threads in plain English. The result is a piece of work that combines visual thinking and clear writing. That is exactly the kind of communication cybersecurity professionals need. A SOC Analyst briefing leaders. A risk analyst presenting to a board. A security manager explaining a strategy to a team. All of them need to mix visuals and words to make complex ideas clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tufte writes that good visuals reveal patterns the reader cannot see in text alone. This reflection proves I can build those patterns and explain them. It also shows how I think about interdisciplinary problems. I do not just compare fields side by side. I look for the shared idea at the center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This image shows how different ideas work together to explain how social media shapes identity in young adults. Psychology looks at the inner effects of social media. It shows how young people compare themselves to others and feel worse about themselves when they see perfect photos or posts. Sociology looks at how people change their behavior in different social situations. It explains how young adults show different sides of themselves online when they talk to friends, family, or classmates. Media and Cultural Studies look at how platforms push users to perform and stay visible. This means young people often try to look interesting and confident online. The flowchart shows these three views as separate paths. All three paths connect to one main idea. Identity on social media is shaped by emotions, social interaction, and platform rules working at the same time. The image helps me see how each discipline has a different focus. It also shows how they join together to explain the whole picture. This supports my main argument that online identity is complex and shaped by many forces at once.<\/p>\n\n\nCourse<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What It Is<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Why This Artifact Shows the Skill<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Discipline<\/strong><\/td> Author Insights<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Psychology<\/strong><\/td> Vogel et al. (2014) explain that viewing idealized posts on social media leads young adults to make \u201cupward social comparisons,\u201d which in turn lowers self-esteem (p. 206). The authors argue that social platforms create an environment where users constantly measure themselves against others, and this repeated comparison process reduces satisfaction with one\u2019s own life (Vogel et al., 2014). They also note that self-esteem drops most among individuals who already engage heavily in social comparison behaviors. This provides strong psychological evidence that identity online is shaped internally through emotional reactions to others\u2019 posts.<\/td><\/tr> Media & Cultural Studies<\/strong><\/td> Marwick and Boyd (2011) describe identity on Twitter as performance, stating that users engage in \u201ccelebrity practices\u201d to maintain visibility (p. 140). They argue that Twitter encourages people to behave like micro-celebrities by curating content and addressing an imagined audience. The authors note that online identity is deliberate rather than accidental because users choose posts that reinforce a desired image (Marwick & Boyd, 2011). Their research suggests that social media shapes identity through public performance and constant visibility.<\/td><\/tr> Sociology<\/strong><\/td> Pillow et al. (2024) find that social media enables individuals to negotiate multiple identities, revealing some traits while masking others depending on audience and platform norms. They write that users actively shift between \u201cdifferent selves across contexts\u201d as part of digital identity work (Pillow et al., 2024. Their interviews show that identity on social media is flexible and shaped through social interaction rather than fixed.<\/td><\/tr> Developmental Psychology<\/strong><\/td> Manago et al. (2012) argue that Facebook use reinforces social identity because larger online friendship networks are linked with higher perceived social support (p. 375). They explain that young adults use social media to strengthen belonging and community ties, both of which are key parts of identity formation during emerging adulthood. Their quantitative analysis shows that online environments contribute to developmental processes by validating social roles (Manago et al., 2012).<\/td><\/tr> Sociology \/ Media Studies<\/strong><\/td> Zhao et al. (2008) found that young adults present \u201cidealized but authentic identities anchored in offline relationships\u201d (p. 1817). Their content analysis shows that users selectively enhance aspects of the self while still grounding their identity in their real social roles. The authors argue that identity on social media does not replace offline identity but extends it, showing how digital platforms support self-presentation and empowerment (Zhao et al., 2008).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/tboak002\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41203\/2026\/05\/image-1-1024x835.png\")
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