I've wanted to earn cybersecurity certifications but need to help my family before affording exam vouchers and training

Each day, millions of innocent people and companies fall victim to cyberattacks. With the rising threat year after year, the world has never been in greater need of cybersecurity professionals to help combat the growing complexity and intensity of attacks. Despite this, the security workforce remains rather small, and professionals are in high demand to help secure the digital landscape. This need to help protect people’s systems and data has led me to pursue cybersecurity as a career path. As a student currently working toward a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity degree, I have had several opportunities to work toward my eventual goal of becoming a cybersecurity analyst and one day starting my own company. During my time in college, I helped start a club for other cybersecurity students, allowing them to engage in projects and activities that would help them achieve their goals. After my first semester, I enrolled in a cybersecurity bootcamp that exposed me to a broad range of cybersecurity topics and fields, giving me a foundational understanding of the field and hands-on experience with industry-standard tools. Completing the bootcamp eventually led me to participate in two capture-the-flag competitions hosted by industry-leading cybersecurity companies. During this time, I built my team-building skills by working closely with small teams of students, which helped us work toward our goal of solving each challenge. The experiences and interests that I developed during this time have become instrumental to my passion for cybersecurity. Throughout my life, working with computers and software has become one of my favorite activities, and cybersecurity would allow me to pursue this interest in a degree where my primary role would be to help others. Additionally, my love for technology and learning more about it has contributed greatly to expanding my understanding of the field. Working throughout my degree has also provided me with a variety of skills that will be critical in the industry. For example, I have worked on several projects with other students that required us to work closely together in individual roles. This provided me with leadership skills that helped keep the group organized as well as team-building skills that helped us work together. It also helped me exercise creativity and problem-solving to think of new, innovative projects and solutions to issues we had during the process. As I progress throughout my career, I hope to use my skills to inspire positivity and honesty within the field. Any cybersecurity professional has the power to use his skills for good or bad. Unfortunately, many often to choose bad for the sake of personal gain. For example, cybersecurity professionals who are released from their positions at a company often place malware on company systems as a form of retaliation. Additionally, many companies have programs in place that incentivize professionals to find vulnerabilities in exchange for a small bounty; however, people who find them often sell them instead to hackers, who can offer more money per vulnerability. Because of the corruption within the field, I hope to instead use my skills for good, inspiring people to follow suit. My ultimate goal is to demonstrate the importance of cybersecurity in people’s everyday lives as well as inspire people to choose the safety of others over personal gain by using their skills for good, not evil.

My first few semesters of college were practically defined by coffee. To me, it was more than something that kept me awake during those late-night study sessions. It was a way for me to take a step back during the few moments of peace I could find for myself. Each semester, I was often so wrapped up in my studies that I struggled to take in the world around me and allow myself to enjoy the current season I was in. This was especially true during the Fall season when the new semester was in full swing. My studies piled up so heavily that I buried my face in my studies so hard that I forgot what month it was. But one thing kept me grounded in the current season: the local Starbucks. While it might sound silly to say that coffee was the thing that brought me back to reality, sitting down with an occasional Starbucks coffee helped me slow down for just a few moments and take in the world around me. This was especially true when it came to the seasonal flavors, where each new series of flavors aimed to capture the feeling of the current season. There were so many new flavors each season that it was nearly impossible to find one that you did not enjoy. For me, that flavor was the Pumpkin Spice Latte. As a mocha fanatic, the idea of a coffee flavored after something less traditional did not appeal to me. But as much as I love chocolate, I also love pumpkin pie, and seeing the flavor on offer slightly intrigued me, and I decided to take the plunge. "Why not? I always order the same thing." Doing so created some of my most memorable memories on campus. I sat down on a bench near the campus fountain during a crisp breeze. I reclined back in the chair, took a restful sigh, and drank my first sip. My first thought? "It's literally Fall in a cup!" The Pumpkin Spice Latte was everything I loved about Fall in a drink I could never get enough of: bold, sweet, and flavorful. It reminded me of the current season and helped me appreciate where I was in my life. It put a smile on my face during one of the most stressful times of my life. Since then, the Pumpkin Spice Latte has become my go-to drink any time it is available, and I could always count on it to give me the same big smile it gave me the first time.

Most people play Minecraft with one goal: to beat the Ender Dragon. It has been done so many times that the only challenge people can find is to complete that same goal, but do it as quickly as possible. While this has given people a new perspective on how to play the game, it has inevitably led people to forget why people play Minecraft in the first place: to escape from reality and expand their creative horizons. Nowadays, we crave action, explosions, and tense gameplay that keeps us on the edge of our seats. Games give us clearly defined goals that inevitably bring us toward a final objective. Minecraft, however, is the complete opposite. Minecraft is slow and peaceful. There are no rigid paths as players are free to explore what they want, when they want. Minecraft has no major goals; instead, those goals are placed into the hands of the player. Minecraft is about constantly making what you have better, striving toward bigger and bigger creations. You start with the goal of building a small hut to survive the night. Suddenly, you decide to build a bigger, more proper house. Now, it is time to add a farm and redstone contraptions. Before you know it, your tiny dirt shack has evolved into a five-story megamansion that automatically grows your crops and sorts your inventory. You built an automatic mob grinder that produces more mob loot than you could ever hope for. Your house has a giant moat with a self-repairing bridge. Where do you go from there? That is up to you. Minecraft has no limitations. Everyone else can reach the Ender Dragon and call it a day. Me? I will be here overlooking a peaceful river as I rest in the cozy home I built into the side of a mountain. Why? Because Minecraft lets me do it, so I did. This is what Minecraft is truly about.

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Mark 10:45 As a Christian, this is a verse I strive to live by. In life, we are called to give our own time and resources to help others and build them up. As individuals, we love it when people give to us, but we often forget to repay the favor or pay it forward to others. Life is not just about receiving, but it is also about giving. Without giving, there is no receiving. Sadly, many people have forgotten this in modern society. We fear the collapse of society, but we still pursue an "every man for himself" culture. We no longer value kindness and generosity, believing instead that such values are overrated and that "might makes right." Society is built on the concept of working together. When we become servants to each other and build each other up, we are strengthening our relationships with our neighbors. Serving others can inspire them to also serve, and as more and more people choose to give of themselves, society as a whole becomes stronger. On the other hand, individualism only seeks to disrupt society. If people choose to focus only on themselves, nobody works together, and people cannot grow from each other. This clashes with the entire concept of society itself, which will inevitably lead to an eventual breakdown if it continues. The Bible calls us to work together and build each other up, and this is what has allowed society to function for thousands of years. This inspires me to help others and give my own time and resources. Not only is it a directive from God, but it upholds a core component of our lives. Thankfully, I have been able to participate in several opportunities to uphold this directive and share God's love with other people through service. Before starting college, I began establishing initiatives in my neighborhood to help pick up litter. Beyond creating a visual mess, litter can cause great damage to our surroundings and wildlife by introducing harmful chemicals and materials. Picking this litter up has proven effective in making our neighborhood more visually appealing while also protecting the precious wildlife in the area, making it more habitable for both humans and animals. After beginning my college career, I have also had several opportunities to participate in food drives during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a time when people were uncertain about their circumstances and struggled to find food due to store shelves being empty. Thankfully, the local food bank partnered with our college to provide bags of food in drive-through food drives, and I had the opportunity to participate on three separate occasions over a year. Packing the food and distributing it to others provided them with the hope and encouragement they needed during this time. Such small contributions such as these may be small, but every small act of service contributes to something much greater. If more people chose to serve others through small acts of kindness and selflessness, society could once again view such qualities as essential to our daily lives and interactions with others.

My passion for technology first began during my childhood programming courses. As a child, I loved working with computers, and my parents eventually enrolled me in online courses teaching Java programming. I deeply enjoyed the experience of writing code and began pursuing more courses teaching similar concepts, such as 3D modeling and principles of game design. As I grew older, my passion for technology began to grow beyond just programming. I loved using different types of software and learning about how computers operated; however, I never understood the concept of malware or cybersecurity. Because of this, I planned to enter college pursuing a computer science degree to further my love of programming. As time went on, the idea of a computer science degree began to excite me less and less. I loved programming, but I was not sure if I wanted to do it for a living. Eventually, the college I wanted to attend launched a cybersecurity degree plan for new students, and the idea of this degree intrigued me. Not only would I still be able to use my skills in programming in applications such as scripting, but I would also have the experience of working with a variety of software used for protecting systems. As I learned more about cybersecurity and how critical of an issue it is in modern times, my eyes opened to the possibilities that a cybersecurity degree would provide. Not only would I get to pursue my love for technology, but I would be protecting the lives of millions of people and closing a major skill gap in the process. Today, I am pursuing an online degree in cybersecurity with the hopes of eventually becoming certified and one day launching my own company. But my learning goes beyond just a four-year education. It also involves learning a variety of soft skills. The threat landscape is constantly evolving as hackers are consistently finding new, more sophisticated ways to gain access to devices as well as more destructive, profitable ways to exploit their victims. As security professionals, we must adapt to evolving threats by inventing new solutions and upgrading our existing systems. This is best executed by working together with others. Everybody has unique ideas and perspectives based on their past experiences; however, professionals must learn to consider everyone's perspectives, even if they do not align with their own. This allows for more creative solutions as everybody makes meaningful, unique contributions. To come up with such solutions, professionals must learn how to think critically about situations. In cybersecurity, most situations cannot be taken at face value. Professionals must make informed decisions based on all of the data they have on hand to ensure that they properly diagnose and remedy cyber incidents. Through my education, I have committed myself to improving all three skills. Even though adapting to different scenarios can be difficult--and sometimes painful--I am learning how to make the most of given situations by taking what I am given and moving forward with it rather than trying the same things in different scenarios. While I sometimes struggle to accept others' ideas, I am learning how to let go of what I think is right, accept other solutions, and compromise on solutions that satisfy everybody. This helps me think more critically as everybody's contributions provide us with more ideas and information we need to be more informed and think deeper about our situations. Only through improving these skills can I properly apply the knowledge I gain to protect critical data as well as people's lives and safety.

“Just one more drink wouldn’t hurt. I can handle it.” These are the last words of someone about to drive home under the influence of alcohol. The words that define the difference between a car crash and a safe ride home. The words that might end an innocent life on the road. “I can make it home by myself.” This is what a person says before he is ultimately pulled over by a police officer. The driver is about to receive a breathalyzer before being arrested for a DUI. He’ll be home eventually. But first, he is about to lose his license. He faces jail time and a court case. If this is his first time, he will receive a misdemeanor. If not, he faces much worse. Either way, his poor decisions will leave lasting consequences on his life. Higher car insurance rates. No license. No jobs that require driving. If that fateful night ended in a car crash, his dire situation takes an even darker turn. Not only has he damaged his own life and reputation, but most likely, he ended the life of an innocent victim. Someone had someplace to be, but they took a dark detour. That person had a family, people who loved and cherished this person. That family is now a loved one smaller, a scar that will never disappear. The driver must face a lifetime of guilt and payment of restitution toward this grieving family. But no amount of money can reclaim the loss of this person’s life and the love and joy they brought to those around them. But every problem has a solution. As a society, we can take the proper steps to ensure that the lives of the driver and the victims are kept safe and that everyone makes responsible decisions before "hitting the road." Where there is alcohol, there is eventually drunk driving. Therefore, there must be limits on alcohol consumption. If a person consumes a certain number of drinks, he must be cut off to prevent too much alcohol from entering his system. Alcohol only impairs motor function when it is consumed in excess, so hard limits in public places are the best way of preventing drunk driving. But the solutions do not stop there. A license is a sign that a person has learned how to become a skilled and responsible driver. But current methods have no hard systems in place to ensure that the driver keeps up his knowledge and skills. By implementing regular awareness training as a requirement for renewing licenses, people will always be reminded of the potential consequences of drinking and driving, not just on themselves but on others as well. Such training could involve multiple classes as well as a final assessment that must receive a passing grade before a license can be renewed. But ultimately, the greatest solution starts with us. We must take responsibility for our own actions and understand that when we drive, the lives and safety of everybody on the road are placed in our own hands. We are responsible for their well-being. Therefore, it is up to us to put ourselves in the shoes of those on the road and ask: “Is a short, quick ‘buzz’ worth a lifetime of pain and suffering?" I pray for a future in which everyone sees the obvious answer as not just “no,” but “never.”

In my early years, I had originally never planned to pursue a technology-oriented field. As a child, I wanted to be an artist and express myself creatively. As I grew up and began to pursue some technology-based courses and training, I found myself particularly interested in the field of software engineering and programming. Not only did I develop a love and passion for technology, but programming would also allow me to creatively express myself as I had originally dreamed, but my "art" would be the programs I wrote. The way I typed and formatted my code along with the way the program operated would be an expression of my own vision. As a teenager, I planned to pursue a degree in computer science as I felt this would best help me achieve my goals. I would learn all the skills I needed to jumpstart my career in software engineering. But when I planned my college career, the university I had planned to attend offered an alternative degree: cyber engineering. Essentially, it was a combination of electrical engineering and computer science with some aspects of cybersecurity. I was intrigued by the prospect of this degree. I had never realized that so many people were at risk of losing their data to bad actors, yet so few people are available to help combat this growing threat. When I learned that cybersecurity was a growing field in desperate need of trained employees, I decided to give it a try. Eventually, I learned a variety of programming concepts in Python, Java, and C. I later had the opportunity to pursue a cybersecurity bootcamp offered by the university, which opened my eyes to the vast possibilities of this industry. There were many specialized fields that cybersecurity had to offer, and one that particularly interested me was ethical hacking. Putting myself in the position of a hacker to help find vulnerabilities and secure networks deeply interested me, especially since I would be in a position to use a variety of hacking tools and scripting languages to help me discover vulnerabilities that I could report to the company I worked for. Despite my initial goal of working in software engineering, the growing threat of cyberattacks and need for trained individuals along with the exciting possibility of working with a variety of tools to help secure networks led me to reevaluate my goals and instead pursue cybersecurity as my field of choice. After graduation, I intend to focus on positions that will help me become a more valuable asset to the companies I work for. My first goal is to get my Security+ certification, a program that will be essential to helping me land my first job as a cybersecurity analyst. As I continue working, I plan to eventually pursue a master's degree along with industry-standard certifications in networking and ethical hacking. These programs will provide me with proper training for an eventual position as a white-hat hacker. Eventually, my ultimate goal is to establish my own company with the primary goal of protecting individuals, keeping their data out of the wrong hands and teaching them how to avoid cyber threats in their daily lives.

As a child, I had dreamt of creating my own video game. I loved playing video games, and as young programming student, I had big ambitions of one day becoming a game designer. While my dreams have been revised since then, I still wanted to design and create a game from scratch at least once in my lifetime. I was passionate about programming, and the creativity of the game design space deeply intrigued me.After I began my college career, I learned how to code using Python. this was one of my favorite experiences in life as not only was I able to pursue my love of programming, but Python made it quick and easy to start a new project, allowing me to express my creativity using code. My second semester was when I was fully able to take advantage of this. I was tasked to worth with one other person to create an original project using Python. Together, we decided to program a video game that could be played using a keyboard or a controller we ourselves made using a breadboard and simple electronics. This project excited me as it allowed us to go beyond just the code and get into other aspects of the game as well. Not only were we programming the game itself, but my teammate was able to plan the story while I did the majority of the programming and created the graphics that appeared on-screen. Additionally, programming certain aspects of the game required a deep level of critical thinking to ensure everything worked properly. Overlaying certain elements was a challenge in Python, and certain aspects to ensure everything worked properly required much fine-tuning. Overall, this was a major challenge that required a greater, deeper level of thinking and understand that went well beyond my current knowledge level, but it was a challenge that excited me and allowed me to express my creativity. Working with technology like this to bring something a project to life is an incredibly gratifying experience. I love working with computers and putting things together to bring a final project to life. Programming is one of my favorite ways of doing this. The deep power of programming languages means that the only limitations are the programmer’s imagination and the computer’s processing power. It ties together hardware and software, allowing for an interesting intersection between the physical world and the digital world. This is done in a way that allows for more possibilities than just hardware alone. With technology rapidly advancing every day, being a part of this field will only bring more possibilities, each one more exciting than the last.

When we hear the word “legacy,” we think of the mark that someone left in the past; however, legacy is about more than just the past. It’s about the future. It has happened many times in the past: Someone makes a memorable contribution, and we say that these moments are someone “leaving a legacy.” Legacies may bring to mind foundations and organizations named after significant people or a historical figure who made a major contribution. But legacy is not just the actions we do in the past. It is also the impact those actions have on the future. But some of the most significant legacies that have ever been left are the ones that our parents leave on us, their children. Scientists become famous for the discovery or creation of a new chemical or invention, and these scientists are taught to millions of people for their discoveries, but nothing compares to the sacrifices parents make by creating a new human life they call their child. Philosophers share grandiose and inquisitive ideas about life and reality, teaching these philosophies to massive crowds of people. These ideas are preserved and shared between generations. But none of this compares to a parent who teaches their children how to spell, add, and live a life that exemplifies morality so they can have a life worth living and eventually pass this knowledge down to their own children. Philanthropists give millions of dollars to charity and have their names immortalized in foundations and scholarships. But that does not compare to a parent who gives everything to provide food and clothing for their children so they can nurtured and healthy. This is because everything parents have done was out of sacrificial, undying love. All of us were born as babies, helpless and unable to do anything on our own. We could not walk, talk, speak, or learn any new skills on our own. But out of a love that no one else could provide, they sacrificed significant amounts of time and money to love us, nurture us, and provide us with food, clothing, and an education. They do not do it for fame or recognition. They do not even expect anything in return. They do it willingly out of love. In my own life, my parents have sacrificed so much to bring me where I am now. Through every hardship, my parents gave their time and love to comfort and encourage me. Every time I had a need, my parents have been there to provide for me. Whenever I did something wrong, they made the difficult choice to discipline me to ensure that I grew up to be the best version of myself that I could possibly become. This, in my opinion, is the greatest legacy any person could ever leave on the world.

The future me can speak to anyone without fear or anxiety, believes he can accomplish any goal he sets his mind to (no matter how ambitious or lofty it seems), and will make every effort he can to impact the lives of society for the better and restore the broken, divided world we live in, and the present me will settle for no less.

I have been programming since I was 11 years old. As a child, I pursued several programming courses that taught concepts such as game design and Java programming. While I was initially hesitant, they interested me because I loved playing video games, and this would allow me to get creative and make my own. As I took these courses, I began to develop a passion for programming. When I eventually began college, I began to learn how to code in Python. To this day, my Python courses remain my favorite as it was an exciting language to program in and made the act of programming fun. It was fun, intuitive, and easy to get into. All of these factors gave me a passion for programming and computer science. After receiving my degree, I hope to receive a job in a field where I can apply languages like Python in a cybersecurity-related field. Scripting languages like Python are commonly used in cybersecurity to help automate tasks. Additionally, cybersecurity is a rapidly-growing field due to the rising number of hackers and malicious actors. While there are several fields of cybersecurity I am interested in, my goal is to eventually become an ethical hacker. Ethical hacking is an essential part of network security as it puts you in the mindset of a malicious hacker to help you find potential weak points in a network. This means using a variety of software to locate vulnerabilities and report them to the company to ensure that they are promptly fixed. Eventually, I hope to start my own cybersecurity company to help the average person keep their personal networks secure. I believe I am the best candidate for this scholarship because I am devoted to protecting people. Nowadays, being hacked is no longer a question of "if," but rather, "when." Many attacks nowadays are launched not just by experienced hackers, but also by young kids running a script with no knowledge of cybersecurity or malware! I have known people who have lost their data to hackers who acted under a pretext, and the effects can be devastating to innocent victims. Cyberattacks have affected a wide variety of people and industries from homes to critical industries. This is especially true with smart devices becoming more prevalent in society as they are very complex, which makes them more difficult to secure. As someone who loves to work with technology as well as help others, I want to dedicate my life to keeping innocent people from being extorted by those with malicious intent. With the rising costs of an education due to inflation, this scholarship would be instrumental in helping me achieve this goal. Additionally, achieving this scholarship would also make it easier for me to further my education by pursuing certification programs, such as CompTIA Security+.

Math is the center of practically everything that we do and learn. How fast did that pitcher throw the baseball? Math can answer that. Do I have enough time to sit down and eat before I leave? Math can answer that. Is it really possible to slip on a banana peel? Yep, math can answer that too! Practically any question, from highly practical to downright absurd, can be answered with a formula and a set of numbers. It is so satisfying to begin with a problem from just a situation and a few numbers and watch it slowly unfold into a definite answer. It can be frustrating, even infuriating, to just get started, figuring out which numbers are relevant and what formula to plug them into. Maybe it is not even the starting that makes a solution come out wrong...maybe we did something along the way. Perhaps I should have put y over x instead of x over y. Maybe I should have taken an integral instead of a derivative. But figuring this out requires careful analysis of the situation. Sometimes, a single look is not enough. Maybe you need to go over it again. Three, four, even five times! But then you find the issue, and suddenly, everything clicks. You discover the problem. You realize the actual solution and why it is supposed to be that way. You start again with a new perspective on the situation. This time, everything comes out right. You get the answer you were looking for, you check your answer again, and everything makes sense. That moment of working out a problem, even a short problem in your head, is the most satisfying feeling in the world, all while being one of the most useful.

There is a massive shortage of cybersecurity professionals in the United States. Despite its critical and growing importance to our nation and the world, it is often misunderstood. Many people either do not know the concept of cybersecurity or understand how truly valuable and significant it is to keeping lives safe and protected from malicious actors. Many companies, however, lack the necessary resources for properly securing their networks as threats are consistently getting stronger. Because of this, I would like to pursue a career in cybersecurity. My goal in life is to help and serve people using technology, and pursuing cybersecurity would allow me to fulfill this goal. Keeping personal data secure is incredibly important as it is often targeted by hackers who want to sell it on the black market or use it for malicious purposes, such as identity theft or fraudulent payments. While there are many areas of cybersecurity, there are two fields that I am particularly interested in learning about. One of these fields is ethical hacking. Hacking is often thought of as being solely malicious; however, ethical hackers are often utilized by companies to test the security of their networks before an attack occurs. I have had some practice with web-based ethical hacking through a cybersecurity bootcamp as well as online programs, and my favorite aspect was the ability to exercise my problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Another area is security analysis. Logging is an effective way to strengthen the security of a network as it provides information about activity across the network, allowing security professionals to make changes if there any nefarious traffic is detected. Through a bootcamp as well as cybersecurity competitions, I have been able to practice analyzing logs through programs such as Wireshark, Splunk, and the command line. Due to my love for programming, I have especially enjoyed being able to apply scripting skills to efficiently search logs for specific bits of information. In the future, I hope to help remedy the issue of ransomware attacks on corporations. Ransomware attacks are very common in modern times due to the possibility of a large payout for attackers. They can be very destructive to companies as they compromise large amounts of data and can spread quickly if combined with other types of malware such as worms. This was especially evident during the WannaCry ransomware and Colonial Pipeline attack, which caused the shutdown of critical infrastructure. Because of this, I want to help fight back against these types of attacks and ensure that companies take proper precautions should the network become infected with ransomware.