This is a guest post written by Karen Corscadden from Cabrillo College, California. She became a National Cyber Scholarship Scholar and was awarded the SANS Undergraduate Certificate Program in Applied Cybersecurity (ACS) through Cyber FastTrack and The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation.
“I credit CyberStart and the Cyber FastTrack program for helping me to secure my first internship in cybersecurity, which in turn gave me much more confidence and hope about my prospects for breaking into cybersecurity.”
Karen shares how participating in the Cyber FastTrack program helped solidify her decision to work in cybersecurity and got her started in the industry.
I was interested in a cybersecurity career, but didn’t have the knowledge or skills for the field
Before participating in the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation’s Cyber FastTrack program, I had been interested in cybersecurity and a career in cybersecurity for some time. But, I found that my knowledge and skills in the field were lacking compared to what employers desire. Because of this, I struggled to get any traction in the field with my resume and job applications. Disheartened, I had even considered going into software engineering instead.
That all changed when I participated in the Cyber FastTrack program.
My experience of the CyberStart phase of the program
The CyberStart portion of the program, in particular, exposed me to a wide variety of cybersecurity problems, tools, and techniques. I was challenged to learn how to research and problem solve, and to persevere until I could solve a challenge. My knowledge of how computers work and how to exploit them grew tremendously.
My experience of the Cyber Foundations Academy phase of the program
The Cyber Foundations Academy portion of the Cyber FastTrack program built upon this experience by providing me with an even larger base of knowledge and skills upon which to grow my budding cybersecurity career. These experiences not only whetted my appetite to participate in additional cybersecurity training and CTFs but also helped me gain the skills to perform well in them. I came to realize that cybersecurity, in addition to being challenging, is also fun. This cemented my desire to have a career in this field.
Landing an internship
The program also provided me with solid hands-on items to put on my resume and to talk about in interviews. Due to this, I credit CyberStart and the Cyber FastTrack program for helping me to secure my first internship in cybersecurity, which in turn gave me much more confidence and hope about my prospects for breaking into cybersecurity. This experience also dissuaded me from further considerations of software engineering.
In conclusion, I would highly recommend the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation’s Cyber FastTrack program to anyone who is interested in cybersecurity. It was an incredibly valuable learning experience that helped me improve my skills and secure my first step in the field.
Want to get on the path to a rewarding cybersecurity career like Karen? Check out the free Cyber FastTrack program for college students in the US. Or if you’re in high school, in the US, discover the free CyberStart America program.
Not eligible? Try 12 fun CyberStart challenges when you register for your free account.