Why did you decide to attend the University of Arizona?

        I took a couple of seminars through the University of Arizona Honors College while I was in high school. I fell in love with the campus while taking those classes. U of A had some of the best ECE and CS programs in the colleges that I was considering. I also came to U of A on tours with my high school computer science class, and wanted to be a part of the community.

Why did you select computer science as your major?

        I took several computer science classes at my high school, and I had a great teacher that inspired me to pursue computer science as a career choice. I also did some research on my own time, and learned that computer science has applications in lots of fields so I would have different career/graduate education options after my undergraduate.

What have you enjoyed most about your experience at UA Computer Science?

I’ve enjoyed learning python and java, and I'm looking forward to expanding my knowledge of coding languages going forward. I’m also looking forward to specializing as I get further in my degree. Another cool thing is that outside of class I’ve started to see some of the applications of what we learned in the real world.

What are your career goals?

I don’t have a specific vision for myself yet. This ties into the next question, but I’m still learning about the different paths I can take, and I’m networking with professionals in Cybersecurity fields to find out what their jobs entail. I would like to earn a Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity from U of A Online.

Tell us about the AZ Cyber Initiative and your involvement in it. (How did you get involved? What did you do? Why is it important?)

I am a member of the Engineering Ambassadors, and at one of the events I worked at, I was stationed next to the AZ Cyber Initiative booth. AZ Cyberinitiative was advertising for a CyberBootcamp they were running over the summer for high school students to introduce students at a young age to cybersecurity. I got to talking with the man running the booth, and when he found out I was a CS and ECE student, he asked if I’d like to learn and teach some basic cybersecurity to students at their camp.

AZCyber ran 5 boot camps this summer and I was lucky enough to be involved in 4 of the 5. These boot camps moved around southern arizona. 3 around Tucson, 1 was in chandler and 1 was in nogales.

We used a platform called TryHackMe along with some hands on hacking activities to introduce students to cybersecurity. This included information about how to spot phishing emails, linux basics, different types of cybersecurity, careers in cybersecurity, the basics of networking, crypto-hashing, python and web security. We also had speakers from careers in cybersecurity come in and talk to the students about what their jobs were and what path they took to get there.

The students also developed a presentation throughout the week, on how to spread awareness of cybersecurity in their communities.

Even if the students decided that they didn't want to pursue a career in cybersecurity, learning the basics of cybersecurity, what the risks are and a bit about how to protect yourself is very valuable. On the first day we talked about phishing and social engineering, and by the end of the day some students were pretty shocked about how easy it is to find information online. I believe that basic security is important for anyone with a computer to learn, because it can impact almost all aspects of your life.  For example, when companies get breached, oftentimes it's because an employee didn't catch a phishing email. Bringing awareness is a big deal.

Why should someone get involved in the AZ Cyber Initiative?

The community of teachers at the camp was supportive. The management team was incredibly inclusive and supportive of their employees. They are actively looking for ways to diversify cybersecurity as a field. When we had speakers come in to talk, they frequently asked minorities in the field what their experience had been like and how the majority could help make the environment more inclusive.

What advice would you give to someone looking to get involved in AZ Cyber Initiative (or similar programs)?

There is a cool program at Pima West Campus called the Arizona Cyber Warfare range, which is an area where people can practice hacking safely. Apart from that, I would suggest looking at the U of A clubs website. The U of A has two clubs that I know of, WiCys and CyberSaguaros that are about cyber security. From there, getting to know the members and officers, and letting them know that you are interested in opportunities they find. Networking is really the best way to get into the field. Had I not been an EA, I probably wouldn't have learned about AZ cyber.

What advice would you give to an incoming student at UA CS?

Office hours with your TAs and your professors are incredibly valuable. Office hours are not just for when you are struggling as a last resort. They are for questions, clarifications or homework help you might need.