After graduation from my
master’s program, I was very lost, and not very happy as I realized something
that made me feel so alive had ended and I was back to Active Duty Enlisted
life. I was then confronted by a close friend of mine who had just completed
his doctoral degree and I thought "What a waste of time." I would
constantly say this out loud in his presence just to make fun of him. One day
in conversation I made the mistake of entering a bet with him, which was - if
there was ever a program out there in cybersecurity at a doctoral level I would
do it. This bet was made under the assumption that it did not exist, which
surprisingly existed. It went ahead and got me connected with an Admissions
counselor, with which I gave a hard time because of my reluctance to join the
program. Fast forward to 2016
while as an Enlisted Sailor I enrolled in my first graduate-level degree
program with, then, University of Maryland University College and now the
University of Maryland Global Campus program. I was enrolled in the
Cybersecurity Technology Program, and I will confess I was very afraid. Many
will think it is silly to be afraid of something that cannot harm you, but for
me, I lacked the confidence I needed at the time. This program was a
two-year-long program that thrust me into the depths of Cybersecurity. We did
not just write a lot of papers, we utilized tools and technologies that
Cybersecurity Engineers and Analysts are using today. This was the best
experience of my life and had I decided not to leave the company I was in 2014
I would have never experienced such magic. Yes, I said magic, this was probably
the best experience in my life.
Many individuals constantly plague me with the question "Why would anyone get their doctoral degree?" And if we are being honest, I even asked myself the same question. Let's take a trip back to 2014 prior to me enlisting in The world's best Navy, my mind has been and will always thirst for more knowledge and consistently aim to fill gaps of my own. My employer at the time could not afford to send us to any form of professional development courses and I was tired of the hearsay knowledge, it gets us nowhere. I started a few light searches on my own and realized one of the best ways to learn more in the Information Technology field, apart from certification, is direct learning.... from the right institution of course. The right institution for me would be one that will not bore you to death with technology from 4 years ago, facilitate healthy growth and investigation of what is happening today and finally engage us in thinking forward.
