Cyber Security for the Future by Nazaire

Cyber Security for the Future by Nazaire - July 2019 Scholarship Essay

Ever since I was a little kid, I have been obsessed with computers and technology in general. I familiarized myself with computers, their vocabulary, and how they worked in general. I was excited when I found out what a technical high school was, so I applied to a bunch of them in my area. I ended up attending Platt Technical High School and enrolling in their information systems technology class for the 4 years I was there. I learned a number of the biggest programming languages, had a great understanding of networking, and learned a whole lot about troubleshooting issues. This was the stepping stone from me to enter the computer field. As I said, I knew i loved computers and wanted to work with them when I grew older, but I was unsure exactly where I wanted to be. I would often poke around technology news sites like The Verge and CNET, just to see what computers were accomplishing in the world. Every other day, I would see some article talking about data leaks or account breaches occurring. Companies would be getting breached, or maybe even entire governments. It frustrated me that this was going on.

I began to study the breaches closer. I would also watch TED talks about how hackers think and why they do what they do. The idea of people having their money stolen without them even knowing made me want to do something about it. I then understood that I really wanted to work in the cyber security field. I liked the idea of being able to completely block off people who planned on acting with malicious intent online. It is no secret that the world is becoming more and more computer focused and automated. As long as there are computers, we need people monitoring those computers to make sure everything is running smoothly. This is what I intend on doing. My goal is to eventually reach a job position that allows me to prevent scammers from stealing any more. In fact, preventing anything malicious on the internet is really my end goal.

During high school, I joined the National Honors Society. I proved to myself that I wanted to learn, and every dollar that I can raise to further my education is really funding a safer future in technology. Education allows me, and others like me, to make the world a safer place.