Meet Some of Our Computer Networking & Cybersecurity Students

I did Cisco Networking for three years in high school and I liked it a lot, so I knew I wanted to continue learning about it. Since I knew what I wanted to do from the start, the Upside-Down Curriculum was very helpful in confirming that the Computer Networking & Cybersecurity program was where I wanted to be.

I've been an officer in the Womxn in Technology club for the past two years, and an officer in the Cybersecurity Club for a year. I've also been in the Digital Forensics Association for two years. I enjoy these clubs because you can come together with your friends and classmates to learn something that you may not discuss in classes.

From the InSight curriculum to all my tech classes, I feel prepared to be out in the real world because I've been given so many opportunities for success. All of the professors here want to help you succeed in classes and in the rest of your career.

I started attending the Womxn in Tech club in my first couple of weeks here at Champlain, and it was a really welcoming community. I wanted to grow that community, and I think we've done that. There's a big gender gap in the tech field, and I want to improve that by reaching out to younger people and making the community more welcoming to women, people of color, and non-binary folks. We've increased attendance and are getting more women and young girls involved in Cybersecurity, which is really important to me.

I'm part of the technical team for Techdren, a nonprofit started by Champlain students a few years ago that is centered around empowering women and giving students access to technology around the world. I've been helping to repair laptops we've received through donations, and installing educational software that tailors to whatever community we're giving them to. This past January, I went on a trip to Zanzibar to deliver the laptops to schools and teach the students and teachers how to use them. It was a great and humbling experience, getting to see first-hand how technology can impact their lives and hopefully their future career prospects.

For my first internship, I worked at a pharmaceutical company as a technical intern, which was a really great experience. At the end of my sophomore year, I already had two years of major-related classes under my belt, which is not the case for a lot of other schools. After that, I interned at a cybersecurity company in California doing work on their firewalls. That actually turned into a full time position, so I'll be working there as an Associate Systems Engineer after graduation.

CIE is a growing community of entrepreneurs. The program offers the ability to collaborate with other like-minded individuals on campus and provide a space for them to work together. At least once a month, a guest speaker—usually a business owner from the Burlington area—will come to talk about their experience in the field of entrepreneurism. 

CIE also hosts events such as the Elevator Pitch and the Champlain branch of LaunchVT.

An entrepreneurial mind-set does not necessarily mean you need to go out, abandon your career, and start a business. The mind-set of an entrepreneur can be utilized in a corporate setting just as much as in your own startup. Entrepreneurism within a company is often referred to as "intrapreneurism," and it's just as valuable a skill.

I have had three internships over the last three years. My first was as a Research Assistant at the Leahy Center for Digital Investigation. Next, I worked as a software engineer for a small web firm out of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Most recently, I worked as a Security Engineer for Workday, located in Pleasanton, California.

I am a big believer that it takes time within an industry to learn the intricacies of running a business. All three of my internships taught me different ways of building a successful business.

I attended the Cybersecurity & Digital Forensics Summer Academy before coming to college, and that gave me a lot of hands-on experience and allowed me to work for a few weeks in the Leahy Center for Digital Investigation before I was even a Champlain student. I met some professors I'm still close with, and having that kind of encouragement gave me the push I needed to pick a career path that wasn't necessarily in the plan.

I decided to declare in Cybersecurity because that's what I enjoyed the most at the Summer Academy, and then I decided to add Digital Forensics. I knew it would be a lot more work, but I like being busy.

Yes! I studied abroad in Dublin, Ireland. We lived in a neighborhood called the Liberties. The great thing about living there is that you don't feel like a tourist. You get connected right away to the local community, and you realize that there are people living their lives there. Shopping at the local shops and staying away from the big grocery stores is very important because it allows you to get to know people in the community.

I like to say it's more of a lifestyle than a major because it's one of those fields that is evolving every single day. You can be the smartest cybersecurity person alive and know everything, but if you were to drop off the face of the Earth for a year and come back, you would be behind. Things change every day, and to stay on top of it you have to follow the news and talk with people in the industry. It's a very tight-knit community. We help each other out because you can't go about this stuff single-handedly.

I worked for ComCode GmbH in Gröbenzell, Germany as a Cyber Security Intern focusing on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) research and development. I was responsible for two main projects, including a live investigation to help businesses understand what sensitive information could be gathered and reported to a company from the internet that could be potentially destructive to those businesses. I was hands-on throughout the entire investigation, using a lot of tools in a new field I had never encountered before.

Champlain's unique approach to tech classes prepared me by giving me a solid foundational knowledge of cybersecurity before starting the internship. Most importantly, my classes taught me how to learn. At Champlain, we learn how to dig into a topic, research it, and master it even if we've never encountered it before. I can teach myself to utilize new technology to do my job in a fast and efficient manner.

Besides the specialized degree, the Upside-Down Curriculum and the career focus of the school made me feel that investing my time at Champlain would make me successful. I liked that my first two years wouldn't be classes not related to my major, and instead, I could use my first year to see if I liked what I was doing and also learn basic skills that many employers seek in entry-level positions.

Core touched on a lot of topics that made me challenge my own beliefs and learn about how my actions impact those around me. In the end, it has made me think in a more global and open-minded way that I can now apply to my field. I've thought more about the ethics and morals I have when it comes to the type of work I would do in my field, where I want to work, and how I impact the world we live in. This is really emphasized in our Capstone, and I like how, in our final year, we are forced to examine how we impact the world through our career field.

I'm the Communications Lead for Women in Technology, a club focused on providing a safe and inclusive space for our women and non-binary students in the ITS Division and Game Studio. Here, we provide support for those who need it, connect with other minorities in the technology field, and learn about different topics like intersectionality, networking, and cool technical topics like election hacking or game organization!