Starting in junior high, I had a science fair project that required me to design and build a functioning prototype of something that could actually help people in real life. Growing up in a house with three older brothers and one older sister, we were constantly losing the TV remote.
So I invented a remote finder. It was a simple platform that the remote sat on, using a pin system to detect when the remote was in place. If it stayed out for more than five minutes, it would trigger a loud beeping alarm until someone put it back.
Toward the end of junior high, Myspace arrived and I got my first real taste of HTML and CSS. That experience sparked my interest in technology. Around the same time, my grandfather and I built a simple robot together, which strengthened my love of understanding how technology works.
In 2015, my grandmother lost nearly $100,000 to a scam. That moment changed everything for me. I began teaching myself cybersecurity because I wanted to understand how these attacks happened and how people could be better protected.
I later completed a full-stack web development program. Although web development was not ultimately my final career path, it gave me a strong technical foundation in programming, databases, application logic, troubleshooting, and secure coding.
I continued building my experience through roles in automation engineering and SQL development before moving into network administration and cybersecurity. Each position added another layer to my understanding of how business systems operate, how data moves, and where security weaknesses can develop.
Cybersecurity is my true passion because it allows me to protect people who may not know how to protect themselves. I now work in security analysis and network administration, where I help secure enterprise systems, manage infrastructure, investigate issues, and improve defensive controls.
I have earned the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity, CompTIA Security+, and CompTIA CySA+ certifications. I am continuing to build my knowledge through advanced security training, practical labs, and additional certifications.
My goal is to help organizations and individuals stay safe from bad actors by finding vulnerabilities, clearly explaining risk, strengthening infrastructure, and building systems that are more secure, reliable, and resilient.
Andrea Jared 