My Growing View of Cybersecurity<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOne of the first major shifts came through CYSE 201S: Cybersecurity and Social Sciences. For a presentation on cybersecurity awareness and digital literacy, I learned about Estonia’s approach to digital citizenship and Finland’s emphasis on media literacy in public education. The assignment expanded my view of cybersecurity beyond protecting computers and networks. Misinformation, social engineering, privacy, trust, culture, and people’s ability to evaluate information also affect how safely societies function online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IDS 300W: Interdisciplinary Theory and Concepts pushed that view further. My project examined trust and resilience in local versus federal institutions and left me asking a question that now follows me outside the classroom: what relationships are interacting here that I may be overlooking? A technical problem can also involve culture, communication, human behavior, policy, and mission requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nguyen (2013) describes reflection as a process through which present experiences can expand our understanding of the past. That closely resembles what college was doing for me. It was not simply adding knowledge; it was changing how I interpreted experience I already had. CYSE 280: Windows System Management and Security reinforced that connection by tying Windows, Linux, and Apple systems to NIST and Risk Management Framework concepts while also introducing me to a personal interest in the Darknet Diaries<\/em> podcast. In hindsight, parts of my earlier career resemble The Karate Kid<\/em>. I had spent years doing professional versions of \u201cwax on, wax off\u201d while following operating procedures, supporting operations, communicating across departments, and working within government requirements before I understood how those motions connected to larger ideas about risk, controls, and governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRe-evaluating my Professional Experience<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOne of the clearest examples involved annual government information assurance and cybersecurity-awareness training. I completed that training for more than 15 years in the Navy, usually with the same goal as everyone else: finish it and get back to work. My coursework helped me recognize the difference between compliance and awareness. An organization can document that every employee completed training without changing how those employees think about phishing, social engineering, or their own digital behavior. The better question is whether the training actually creates security-conscious behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My cybersecurity internship reflections produced a similar shift. Work I considered ordinary systems administration could also be understood through access management, security controls, documentation, hardening, and risk. My earlier Navy experience became relevant in another way. I once worked on the operational side and depended on technical personnel when systems failed; now I am often one of the technical people an operator calls. Having occupied both positions helps me understand the operator’s urgency while also understanding why technical or security requirements may prevent an immediate solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
College also refined strengths I already had. I was comfortable communicating before ODU, but research, presentations, discussions, and technical assignments improved my ability to translate complicated issues for people with different backgrounds and explain why a problem may be less black-and-white than it first appears. Reflection also helped me recognize adaptability as a professional strength. Years of working through poor communication, sudden changes, competing priorities, and high operational tempo had made those conditions feel normal. College did not give me that adaptability, but it helped me recognize its value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learning My Strengths and Limitations<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nMy academic experience also changed how I viewed my intellectual abilities. Consistently making the Dean’s List and receiving strong feedback on papers showed me that I could perform well academically. I especially enjoyed developing arguments, connecting information, and revising conclusions when stronger evidence challenged my assumptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My interdisciplinary research project also showed me the limits of that strength. Developing an interesting question was not the same as conducting research that could withstand formal academic scrutiny. I struggled with establishing enough tension in the existing research and found parts of the methodology less interesting than developing the ideas themselves. The experience reminded me that curiosity and analytical ability do not replace research discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some things remained unchanged. I am still rubric-oriented, and I remain willing to change my position when stronger evidence supports another conclusion. College also sharpened my understanding that professional experience provides useful context, but a personal anecdote does not establish how something generally works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professional Direction<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nSmith (2017) explains that people make narrative choices by selecting the events that become important to the story they tell about themselves. Looking backward, the importance of my education is not that it replaced the person who entered ODU. It changed which parts of my experience I understood as connected and important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My career plans are now much more deliberate. When I began the transition into civilian technology work, my strategy could fairly be summarized as \u201cwhatever pays the most.\u201d Today, I am pursuing cybersecurity governance, risk, and compliance because the work aligns with both my professional strengths and my interests. I want to move toward Risk Management Framework and governance responsibilities and eventually into positions where I can influence cybersecurity strategy and policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That direction also connects to my interest in media and digital literacy. Organizational cybersecurity awareness and public digital literacy both address the human layer of security. Annual training can satisfy compliance without creating resilience, just as teaching people to use technology does not necessarily teach them how information can be manipulated or used to influence them. I want my formal career to involve identifying and communicating risk and creating policies that influence real behavior, while also finding ways to support digital literacy in schools or communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I entered ODU because someone told me companies invested differently in people with degrees. That may explain why I started, but not why the experience ultimately mattered. My education gave me the language to recognize relationships among experiences I already had and the perspective to see where they could lead. I am leaving with more technical knowledge, but more importantly, I can now describe the kind of cybersecurity professional I want to become and why the path behind me makes sense for getting there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n