A Reflective Journey: Navigating Your Cumulative Experience at Iowa State University

My journey into Cyber Security Engineering at Iowa State was not a traditional route. I initially
started out as a Kinesiology and Health: Pre-PT major. As I advanced through my first year in
Kinesiology, my interests were slowly changing and I started to look into cyber security
engineering and software engineering. A main reason I did that was because all my life I have
been surrounded by technology, from video games to my first few jobs. I loved technology, I was
fascinated with how fast it was growing and changing.

Coming into my second year of Iowa State I ended up switching to cyber security engineering.
My first year in engineering was filled with many new challenges and experiences. The first
exciting experience was my enrollment in COMS 227, it provided me with a solid foundation in
basic programming but also served as a starting point into the intro to cyber security realm.
COMS 228 seamlessly followed,I was able to get a grasp into the world of data structures, and
this was a very pivotal point in my academic career. It enabled me to transition from the basic
understanding of programming to the use and management of complex data structures. The
skills in this class laid the groundwork for the courses to flow, it enabled me to become a better
problem solver and critical thinker. Along with this class, I was enrolled in CPRE 230, Cyber
Security Fundamentals. This class allowed me to get a better understanding of the core
principles in cyber security and also introduced me to the use of firewalls, intrusion and
detection and much more.

Building onto the foundation that CPRE 230 started, CPRE 231 takes a practical side, unveiling
several different methodologies and tools used for protection and conversely, the potential
exploitation of systems and networks. This course served as a bridge between real-world
problems and theory. It emphasized the hands-on aspect of cyber security defense. The lab that
was attached to 231, enabled me to engage in simulated real-world scenarios, from finding
vulnerabilities, understanding exploits, to figuring out solutions in order to defend against these
attacks. This class showed me that understanding a controlled environment is an essential skill
in the forever changing world of cyber security.

Going hand in hand with CPRE 231, I took a class called CPRE 234. This course dug deep into
the world of ethics. Throughout the semester I participated in class discussions and also worked
on several assignments that challenged many different ethical dilemmas. The focus of these
discussions were to intertwine the nature of these important technical decisions and their ethical
and legal consequences. These two courses together helped me understand that cybersecurity
is not just about using the right tools or stopping an intruder, but rather understanding my
options and their potential outcomes. As I move forward in my academic career and apply the
lessons learned into real-world scenarios, the knowledge obtained in these two courses will
shape my approach when encountering cyber security challenges.

My favorite course that enabled me to not only apply all these skills, but it led me to using
resources outside the classroom, it taught me to be a team player, it also taught me how to
communicate with others to meet our goals and succeed. This course is COMS 309, in this
course my main purpose was to work on a mobile application with 3 other students and have it
fully functional by the end of the semester. This course proposed many challenges, some of
these challenges I had to dig deeper, I had to take time out of class and research certain
topics/technologies to get a grasp on how to implement it. My main task in this project was to
get a good understanding of websockets and implement it. I had no experience with websockets
and the class scope did not have a lot of requirements to do with websockets. So, I took the
initiative and started early by asking questions, reviewing several different documents, videos
and applications to be able to implement them. I was able to take an idea, expand on it and
guide my fellow teammates when implementing these websockets, which was a pivotal point in
the success of our project.

Even though I had a generally positive time throughout my time at Iowa State, I still had some
rather negative feelings. I ran into a few challenges that were hard to face. The biggest
challenge I faced and found the hardest to overcome was Confidence. Coming into engineering
I had a fear, which was not being able to be a real engineer, not being able to fit in. But after
taking time to reflect on myself, getting advice from professors, managers, family and friends I
was able to overcome this challenge. I realized that I would not be able to grow if I didn’t believe
in myself, my abilities, and my future. I overcame this by working hard, believing in myself, and
using my skills that I developed over the years.

Looking back on my time at Iowa State University, I can see that I've grown significantly
personally in addition to academically. My approach changed from being initially centered on
learning course content to balancing a mastery of the subject with a wider knowledge base,
which is essential for me to be able to navigate challenging situations. Beyond only fixing
problems, this flexibility also includes increased self-assurance, collaboration abilities, and
thorough preparation for a dynamic cybersecurity job. My experiences have transformed me into
a more well-rounded person who is prepared for success in the workplace by cultivating
resilience, flexibility, and confidence.