“With the GFACT certification, I was able to land my first full-time position as a Cybersecurity Analyst, and I know for a fact that wouldn’t have been possible without CyberStart.”

This is a guest post written by Emma. She became a National Cyber Scholar with Honors, winning the Alan Paller Honor Scholarship of $500 through CyberStart America.

How my cybersecurity journey began

I started learning about concepts like cryptography from the time I was in 5th grade and loved it, but I never thought of it as something I could apply in a career until I was in high school. I had signed up for the SANS email list, and that’s where I first heard of CyberStart. I immediately signed up and loved it.

I earned my GFACT certification by participating in CyberStart America

After I earned my GFACT certification, I was positive that this was the career I was meant to be in, so I continued my learning on platforms like Udemy and YouTube. I started joining CTFs and eventually started a team, I won a scholarship to attend the WiCyS Conference, and I eventually started applying for internships.

💡 “After I earned my GFACT certification, I was positive that this was the career I was meant to be in.”

It didn’t take long to find the career of my dreams

After being sought out by a multi-billion dollar government contractor, they offered me a full-time cyber engineering internship position.

With the GFACT certification, I was able to land my first full-time position as a Cybersecurity Analyst, and I know for a fact that wouldn’t have been possible without CyberStart.

None of that would’ve happened without the NCSF and CyberStart. My life has been changed for the better in countless ways, and I’m now in the career of my dreams.

I can’t express how grateful I am for this program and everything that it's enabled, and I know for a fact that there are countless other students who have benefited like I have.

Want to build the skills to get hired in a cybersecurity career like Emma? See if you could be eligible for a National Cyber Scholarship through one of the free programs funded by the NCSF.