Focus, focus, focus. That has been an emphasis of mine as of late, juggling sports, a part-time job, and school has never been easy but this is what closely resembles college life for me. I know I can succeed in college because I have been preparing for my future while still in high school. What separates me from my peers is my desire for excellence and to achieve my academic and professional potential. The steps I have chosen to take while adapting to an irregular high school experience ( did online school for 2 years and moved 3 times during this period) have propelled me to excel in my field of Computer Science and specifically in Computer Networking and Cybersecurity. In particular, these steps have included obtaining the Comptia ITF+ certification to build a basic understanding of IT infrastructure and partaking in a STEM internship with the groundbreaking C51SR Center for the U.S. Army on Aberdeen Proving Ground. I am currently working diligently to obtain my Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification by the end of the summer prior to the start of my freshman year of college. After this certification, I plan to pursue my Comptia Security+ certification, a vendor-neutral industry standard for security positions, which will set me apart from my peers when it comes to technical qualifications. I've learned recently that excellence requires sacrifice and as I've shown above I'm more than willing to put in the dedicated time and effort to become excellent. A common well-known fact is that the average college degree holder makes more than one with just a high school diploma. It's not just the classes with highly educated professors that enable the prestige of a college degree. It's also being in an environment where you're encouraged to be a sponge and learn as much as possible along a community of fellow ambitious scholars coupled with the abundant opportunities for research and/or internships that gives you the aptitude to problem solve and understand real-world problems. With this in mind, the highest degree I plan to earn is a Ph.D. in Computer Science with a focus on Cybersecurity. I hope to obtain information on the modern architecture used in modern cloud data centers and in what ways they are susceptible to malicious cyber attacks, the cybersecurity infrastructure that provides the most network reliability and safety, and the methodology behind online data breaches. A Ph.D. would also allow me the opportunity to teach in Academia which would allow me to give back to students with a similar dream to mine. For me, having a degree represents a dedication to my craft that will give me confidence in myself and prove to others that I am an intelligent expert in my field. Along with obtaining industry standard certification, a degree will give me the technical knowledge coupled with the research experience necessary to have exceptional expertise and be deemed an asset to any professional organization. Honestly, while the degree itself may have some importance, what is more gratifying for me is having the perseverance and discipline to make it through years of intellectually challenging trials and projects. The reward of achieving such a feat along with faculty and other researchers is a motivator to continue pressing forward and gain such an amazing accomplishment.

I became interested in Computer Science after trying to build a Python calculator. This experience sparked my curiosity and motivated me to learn more about the different careers in Computer Science and the various collegiate majors I could study. I started participating in more beginner projects and taught myself HTML and JavaScript, even studied for the CompTIA ITF+ exam (which I eventually obtained). My interest in Computer Science was further fueled by my desire to learn about the wide variety of careers within the field, such as software engineering, cybersecurity, analysis, computer hardware engineering, app development, data science, and game development. I began to see the Internet of Things everywhere, from using Zoom and fitness trackers to watching sports and driving a car. This realization that I can master the software and technical skills required to understand how these amazing applications work inspires and motivates me to pursue a career in computer science. My STEM internship at Aberdeen Proving Ground last summer also gave me a taste of the kind of environment I hope to find at my university and showed me that I don't have to be in uniform to serve this nation, as I worked with highly competent civilian engineers throughout the program. My counterparts at the internship came from different areas and backgrounds, but we all wanted to make ourselves better by participating in this amazing opportunity. For me in particular, the lab and mentor I was assigned to sparked my interest in computer networking and motivated me to pursue computer science as a major. The number of intelligent personel in the area only fueled my desire to learn more about computer networking by studying for the Cisco Certificate Network Associate (CCNA), enrolling in AP Computer Science, coding on a regular basis, subscribing to tech journals, and more. This wonderful opportunity gave me a glimpse of what it feels like to be part of a community of amazing people, and I hope to continue developing my skills and interests, as well as learning from and sharing my perspectives with my peers, at the collegiate level. My connection to the military is through my Dad, who has been active duty in the Army for the past 13 years. My Mom is also a government employee, currently working for the Department of Defense. I've always been grateful for the opportunity to travel as a military brat, and I've had the opportunity to learn about many different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. There are many different beautiful sites and scenes with many unique geographical destinations from Georgia to Oklahoma, Hawaii, Washington State, and Maryland. What I've come to conclude is that the human race may have different ideologies, cultural practices, and languages, but we are all fundamentally simple at heart, we all strive to obtain the basic necessities of life and live to support our families and friends.