I am Tamara Ritch, a cybersecurity student at Year Up Baltimore through the Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3) program. My first semester in the cybersecurity program has been very enjoyable, exciting, and a little scary as well. I’ve had the chance to learn a lot of new information. For example, I’ve learned the various ways to protect myself from suspicious activity, how to catch errors on the system network, and how to combat cybercrime.
It’s been easy to understand why cybersecurity is so important given the recent breaches at Target and Home Depot. What’s been challenging about the process has been understanding the different responsibilities of each individual method used to prevent and/or protect a company’s vulnerabilities.
We have had a lot of amazing experiences so far that have allowed me to see some of these methods and different cybersecurity career paths. One of the most exciting experiences was our field trip to Symantec’s office. The facility was state-of-the-art and very high-tech. We had an opportunity to meet with the VP of Operations, John Lionato, who spoke with us about finding a career that we are happy with. In addition to John, we had several dynamic speakers who educated us about their journeys in cybersecurity. After we heard the dynamic speakers, we were able to take a tour of the facility, which was amazing! At the end of the field trip we were so excited to hear that we will be able to visit Symantec again for a 4-day Boot Camp in January!
We also had the golden opportunity to attend the Cyber Maryland convention where we watched and participated in an ethical cyber hacking competition called Cyber Wars. Cyber Wars was so exciting, but it was also frightening to witness the ways hackers can compromise individuals’ information and systems. Apart from this hackathon, we also got to see what jobs are available within cybersecurity and the types of security clearances, experiences, and certifications needed to obtain those good jobs.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the program so far, and I am truly looking forward to a career in the cybersecurity field. As I continue the rest of my journey in the SC3 program at Year Up, I will take what I learned in the first semester of this great opportunity and maintain use of my knowledge in my everyday life. My education will not stop with the Year Up curriculum. However, Year Up and Symantec have laid the foundation for me to do whatever I want to do in life, and this is only the beginning. I hope that one day I can pursue a career at Symantec.