克里斯汀·琼斯是四个孩子的母亲，为了给家人创造更好的生活，她搬到了德克萨斯州。 She worked a variety of jobs, but she found it challenging to earn enough money to support her children.
“I wanted to go to college, but I was never able to attend two consecutive semesters,” Jones said. “很长时间以来，我一直在努力获得学位。 A transitional housing program which helps single moms and pays for college and childcare gave me the stability I needed.”
Jones earned a Collin College Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Cybersecurity in May 2020. Today, she has a new job, is remarried, is now a mother of five, and is pursuing a Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) in Cybersecurity at Collin College.
“They say this is a male-dominated career, but it wasn’t like that for me,” Jones said. “我感到很受欢迎。 在皇冠体育，人们关心你。 这是文化。 Everyone is really down to earth, gives good advice, and has time for you. The professors will stay late to help you, and that attitude trickles down to the students. I had a baby, and my classmates stayed late to help me complete my lab assignments. It is amazing that they would do that for me.”
一个稳定的工作
琼斯说，她正在向专家教授学习最新的技术。 She adds that she is in the right career field because she loves her job, the industry options are broad and growing, and there is a great demand for workers in cybersecurity.
“There are so many openings for IT positions and not enough qualified people, but you may fall short if you don’t have a degree. I got my job because of the associate degree,” said Jones, who is working on the Cisco Cloud Webex team. “My children use Webex for school. 我的工作是建立关系网。 In the interview process I was able to answer technical questions because I had learned so much in my classes.”
Jones attributes her success to her professors, who serve as her mentors, and the networking opportunities she received at the college. She added that she appreciates the affordable classes.
这个人说：“我妹妹上的是一所外州大学，她欠了几千美元的债。 我知道我应该在这里，我应该做什么。 If you think about the future and how everything will be on the cloud, there is more longevity in cybersecurity than in other fields.”
把爱好变成职业
Lorenzo Lara has been interested in computers and technology since he was in high school.
“我在新闻上看到了DFW地区的网络安全工作。 The demand for these jobs got me interested.”
和琼斯一样，劳拉也在皇冠体育获得了网络安全专业的专业资格证书。 When his career coach mentioned that he could earn a BAT in Cybersecurity from the college, he applied right away.
“在BAT被批准之前，我一直在寻找一个学士学位项目。 I wanted to continue my education at Collin because the professors are experts in the industry, and it is really affordable.”
Lara started learning about the diverse cybersecurity career opportunities in his Security+ class at the college.
“一开始，我想成为一名有道德的黑客。 Now, I think I want to work on the business side of things and hopefully become a Chief Information Security Officer,” Lara said.
Honing his leadership skills, Lara has served as the president of the Information Security Systems Association (ISSA) student chapter at Collin College for the last two years.
“这个组织为学生提供了与行业领袖建立联系的机会。 If you like learning about cybersecurity outside of the classroom and want to be around others who share your interests, this is a great group to join,” Lara said.
自从劳拉担任主席以来，ISSA学生俱乐部已经举办了两次黑客马拉松。 The events included a capture-the-flag (CTF) competition for students to put their skills to the test.
“In this extracurricular activity, you put the knowledge you learned into a controlled, real-world hacking environment. 我们打球是为了得分，但主要是为了学习。 The fun side of cybersecurity is the hacking part of it, and CTF is hacking and breaking in for points. Depending on which level you get to, you receive different points,” he said.
Lara added that he is grateful for his professors who continue to share real-world stories and the college’s career coaches who are guiding him on his path, assisting with his résumé, and providing mock interviews.
“在大学里，你会学到很多理论知识。 Whereas at Collin College you get to work with real computer systems and gain a lot of hands-on experience. I will be well prepared when I graduate because I am working on real devices including routers, switches, and firewalls.”
To learn more about the colleges BAT in Cybersecurity and 报名参加一个信息会议.