Why did I decide to transition into Cybersecurity and IT?
Choosing a career path is never an easy decision. Not everyone has the opportunity to change, sometimes because they are unsure which direction to follow, and sometimes because they lack support to pursue it. Over the past few years, Iāve spent a lot of time thinking about this.
Looking back, Iāve always been the person who knew how to fix computers for family and friends. I enjoy spending hours learning new technologies and using that knowledge to solve real problems, for myself and for others. Iāve always liked the idea of doing this professionally, so I decided to pursue it as a career.
In 2023, I started studying online to build foundational knowledge and earn certifications in IT. As I explored different areas, cybersecurity quickly caught my attention. Not because of the āhacker movieā aesthetic from the 90s and early 2000s, but because it was something I had already been doing in a practical way since my teenage years.
Whether it was helping someone remove a virus, recover deleted files, reset access to an email account, or improve basic network security, I was often the one people relied on. This became even clearer when Father Luiz from Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Fairview, NJ asked for help improving the performance and security of the staff computers. That experience reinforced something important for me: I genuinely enjoy solving these kinds of problems and using my skills to help others.
Since then, Iāve continued to develop my skills by studying cybersecurity more deeply. I enrolled at Bergen Community College to pursue an Associate Degree in Cybersecurity, where Iāve been learning about networking, SSH, system hardening, Python, Linux, and digital forensics.
Today, Iām building hands-on experience through personal projects, including my own home lab environment, and contributing to open-source projects on GitHub. My goal is to keep growing through real-world practice and prepare for an entry-level role in cybersecurity or IT.