How I Learned to Stop Teaching, and Love Tech (I hope at least…)
I, like many of those in my generation, followed the common wisdom of, “Go to college! Grad school if you can! Do that and you will get a job immediately, and will be prosperous all your days!”
I, like many of those in my generation, am now barely making my rent, bills, and student loan payments. I stumbled my way through an attempted doctorate right before COVID, and am now teaching at an amazing school in the United States. Despite all of this, I have recently started to sell my own bodily plasma, a level of desperation I did not ever anticipate having to stoop to given that I can read 3 languages, and have a Masters degree (in theology, but shut up, it still counts!).
I, like many of those in my generation (hopefully), am now looking to see if the grass is greener on the technology side of things, specifically, in cybersecurity and/or cloud computing. Today, I will focus on the cybersecurity element.
Cybersecurity (sometimes called computer security, or information technology security) is the process of ensuring the the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious (but also the seemingly negligent or ignorant) actors.
Essentially, it is the craft of ensuring that only those who should have access to certain things have access to those certain things, at specific times, and in certain circumstances. (See CIA Triad)
At least that is how I understand it now. You see my dear reader, or random internet bot that is scraping the internet for information, I have not actually made the jump yet. I am not, nor have I ever, worked in the IT field, let alone cybersecurity.
Despite this overwhelming lack of skill, experience, knowledge, or any other redeeming quality, I am planning on moving out of teaching before the start of the next school year. Not because I am unhappy as a teacher (in case my boss is reading this, I love my job, please don’t fire me), but because I cannot provide for my family in the way my conscience demands given any salary I can reasonably expect as a teacher.
I love teaching, but I love my family more. So, I have been studying for the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) exam, in hopes that this upper level certification will prove to be the vital ‘shoe in’ to allow for my pivot into tech.
I have a lot of work to do, and even more to learn, but my hope is that I can do this with y’all (not a native Texan, but ‘Y’all’ just makes sense, post about that later) and share my journey as I pursue the American dream, perhaps for the first time ever!
So follow, share, favorite, bookmark, whatever you need to do, help keep me honest! By August 2023, I will be in Cybersecurity. God willing of course…
