Cohort Stories: Meet Darian
vol. 3, no. 18 — guest post by Darian Dias
My name is Darian Dias. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and I am a student at the University of Massachusetts Boston pursuing a career in computer science. I started becoming interested in technology when I was only 10 years old; I had begun using all kinds of technology to express my creativity through art and entertainment. From computers to phones, applications, and other devices, I had used each one to create a short film, a piece of artwork, or music.
By utilizing technology I expanded my horizons, slowly making what began as a form of artistic expression into a passion for technology as a whole. This passion would later bring me to my first ever achievement in technology, writing and successfully running a batch of code. The entire process of writing code, compiling, and successfully running it gave me a sense of accomplishment and entertainment.
The fact that I could practically talk to a computer and have it respond back was astonishing to me. From that point on I knew that I wanted to work in the field of computer science.
Thus, I strived to reach that goal accomplishing other achievements along the way such as building my very own computer, graduating from high school, and eventually making it into college to pursue a bachelor’s in computer science. Despite my accomplishments, there were challenges that I faced along the way, from paying off tuition to losing track of my path in life. A recent challenge that I had to face was choosing which specific area of computer science would I want to pursue. Computer science as a whole is a broad field with many choices, and I needed to find out which path I would choose to follow. For a while I was lost trying to figure out which option I should take.
It wasn’t until a friend recommended a TV series for me to watch called “Mr. Robot” did I begin to get an idea as to what I wanted to be. The story follows a vigilante hacker who puts himself in the midst of a hacking scheme to overthrow a corporation he and his fellow hackers hold a grudge against. Although I personally would not want to become a vigilante hacker, for obvious reasons such as legality, the thought of being someone who works in the field of cybersecurity, protecting sensitive information and keeping websites and databases secure, caught my interest. After spending some time thinking about my options and digging into a few I finally decided to pursue, what is now my dream job, becoming a cybersecurity worker.
As a Hack.Diversity Fellow, I’m excited to connect with my peers and mentors learning about who they are, their journey, what they hope to or have already achieved. Additionally, I look forward to learning more about cybersecurity, gaining experience in this field of work, and ultimately pursuing my dream job. Lastly, I hope to return Hack.Diversity’s favor and trust one day by making cybersecurity more accessible to others who are interested and teach them how to go about getting there. I am very thankful for the opportunity given to me by Hack.Diversity and I look forward to participating and becoming a part of this growing community.
