New Adventure

Starting a website has always been an unchecked item on my bucket list for a long time and with the new year comes new beginnings. For as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed talking with people and sharing my knowledge. However, I felt limited in the range of people that I could teach and mentor. This blog will be an opportunity for me to share what I know to a broader audience. My hope is that I would be able to engage in meaningful conversation with my audience and learn from them too.

A few months ago, I read a quote on Facebook by an unknown author stating the following “What if I fall, but darling what if you fly”. I fell in love with this quote because I felt like I would never have known what I am capable of until I try.

Throughout my life, I have encountered many extremely difficult obstacles. Many of those tough obstacles were early on in my career and I had a hard time coping and handling them. It was also hard for me to find a mentor that did not see me as a threat to there position within the organization. I struggled with the political aspects of being in an information security position as used to let someone position in the organization dictate my forward movement. As a woman in IT, I felt like there was this unspoken stigma hovering over me. I remember this a time when I was responding to a service ticket for network support and I on my pink tool belt and laughed at by the men in the room. They told him that I should not wear it because no one would take me seriously. So what did I do, I continued putting the tools that I would need in my pink tool belt and went on the job. It almost seemed like I had to work twice as hard to prove myself every day as I refused to change what makes me special. I have always been proud of my wiliness to succeed and not backing down. I will be sharing personal obstacles and how I was able to deal with them. I am not saying that my methods were the best, but perhaps by sharing them it may inspire or help someone.

I have been employed in computer security and system administration work for over fifteen years and learned a great deal from grad school and peers. Aside from the degrees, I learned the most from the tenure computer professionals that I have had the pleasure of working with. Dissecting and analyzing potential computer issues within the textbooks on virtual machines compares nothing to a real-world situation.

When I started in this field, I did not know how important risk documentation was to an organization or how important it was to perform a security check on a scheduled basis. It wasn’t until I had a few audits under my belt that I realize how important documentation and performing security checks were. I want to be able to share my experiences and all of the knowledge that I have gained with everyone.

I also want to share my views and thoughts about the advancements in technology and how it could possibly impact our lives and as well as our children’s. With every day that passes our children are introduced and exposed to more technology and with that exposure there comes the potential for great or horrible side effects. The oldest of my three children have a growing interest in computers, programming, and video games. I speak to him often about cyberbullying as well as having patience. This journey will be exciting and scary. I look forward to sharing the latest technologies designed for children to thrive within the STEAM fields as well.

XOXO

CYNTHIA