Year-in-Review

This past year has been the most significant year of my life that I can remember. The amount I have grown physically, emotionally, and academically is astounding. Especially when I think back to where I was last year which feels like a lifetime ago. Last year was best defined as uneventful, stagnant, and directionless. Luckily, college snapped me out of this state and I was able to find purpose, learn, and make decisions with authority.

One important catalyst for my growth this year was dorming on campus. Being on campus with my friends was one of the best things for me because we all encouraged each other physically and academically. Within the first week, I had a schedule for going to the gym with my roommates and I have managed to stick to that schedule to this day. There were times when one of us didn't want to go but we always encouraged each other to stick with it. Besides finally maintaining a reliable gym schedule I also got to try a lot of new things like bouldering. Bouldering requires an intense amount of physical and mental resilience, and I love it.

Another important catalyst for my growth this year was night. Reflecting on them they are the most memorable conversations I have had in my life. No matter if it was with my roommates, other friends, girlfriend, or family, and no matter if we were talking about hopes, dreams, or our problems I loved every second. The night was also when I took time to reflect upon my day, and nothing made me reflect more than Intro to Interpersonal Communication with Evan Griffin. The amount of life-altering knowledge packed into the course packet for that class is astounding. Reflecting on those classes made me make friends, lose friends, and realize what was important to me.

The last important catalyst for my growth this year was my professors. I came from a small high school with superb teachers so I was nervous that I would be in for a rude awakening, but I was wrong. This isn't to say that my professors were perfect, I sent a lot of emails this year, but every single one was an expert on their subject, professional, and responsive to my questions and comments. In high school, I would have been terrified to present before a class full of students or to have a private conversation with my teacher about a problem I was having, but by the end of Intro to Public Speaking I had and will again.

My biggest academic feat of resilience was managing to get straight A's in both semesters without ever submitting an assignment late. The five areas I have grown the most this year are reliability, openness, self-awareness, knowledge, and self-assuredness. Now that my friends are all back home I have my family to keep me reliable in the gym, classroom, and at work. I haven't tried anything new that I've loved as much as bouldering but I am always interested in trying new things that my friends are doing now since it could be my next favorite thing. Now that I am back home and can't stay up or out as late I've started weekly journaling to have time for personal reflection. I learned so much this year in and out of IT and my UHP Discover Co-op is helping me learn more and pushing me out of my comfort zone by being an ambassador and trainer to industry partners which I would never have imagined just a year ago.

This past year can be best described by a single word "structure." There is something about being home that turns my life into a very structured, efficient, and sometimes boring experience. Whether that be from the amount of time spent and the intentional design of my online classes, work, being further away from friends who promoted spontaneity, or being around my family who are very structured people, my life became very structured. I recognize that I am a very structure-oriented individual, preferring structure to spontaneity, and I thrive in my academic and professional goals in my structure.

However, a month ago on my 20th birthday I looked back on my year, I realized how uneventful it was. I had accomplishments I was proud of like keeping my 4.0 GPA, learning in and out of the classroom, staying consistent with the gym and nutrition, and developing good professional relationships at my COOPs. However, since I have been doing these things for a long time now, they just felt like the status quo. There weren't any massive accomplishments, any skills or hobbies I was working on, and I hadn't spent as much time with my friends as I would have hoped.

On the night of my birthday, I realized that if I wanted this year to be any different that I would need to set goals, find new hobbies by trying new things, and think of fun activities to invite friends to. So far, I've managed to set a bunch of goals, find new hobbies and get back into hobbies I forgot about, and I've got plans for two trips with my friends and me. My goals are mainly to keep doing what I've already been doing, giving school my all, giving work my all, staying consistent with the gym, with the addition of a new goal to try something new every week. The hobbies I'm most interested in right now are motorcycling, which is new; playing basketball, which is something I used to love; and hiking, which was my favorite thing during quarantine. The two trips I have planned are to go to Red River Gorge in the summer and the Smokey Mountains in the fall. Fitting this all in might be a challenge, and I might have to be okay with getting an A- or B+, but I think it will give me a more balanced life.

Two experiences that have significantly altered my professional goals were my first graduate-level class and my Spring COOP. My first graduate level class was called IT Seminar. In IT Seminar the final project was to write a "Career Readiness Plan" where I needed to choose two domains in IT and research professions, skills, and companies that are related. Researching and writing that report broadened my horizons to positions, like IT architecture, that I had never heard of but were highly aligned with my goals and skillset.

My Spring COOP has been the biggest resume builder in my life. First, I got to work with a boss who specialized in IT architecture. Second, I got to work on many company-wide projects because it was a smaller company. Lastly, I get to continue working there part time over the summer semester building more skills. My professional goals for next year are to continue working part-time at Fecon and to secure a Fall 2025 COOP at another company to broaden my horizons. My academic goals for next year are to get B+'s or better without obsessing over them, to do a personal project with my raspberry PI, and to study and achieve my CompTIA Security+.

Over the past year, I have grown significantly as a developing IT professional by shifting my focus from primarily meeting academic requirements to preparing for my future career. This growth can be understood through three areas: education, soft skill development, and technical skill development.

Academically, a turning point was the change in the Information Technology program requirements, which reduced the number of required co-op experiences from five to three. This change allowed me to pursue opportunities that better align with my long-term goals. Most importantly, it enabled me to return to my goal of completing a double major in cybersecurity, which I had previously set aside due to time constraints. The change allowed me to take summer courses, and I am now on track to graduate in spring 2027 while also strengthening my expertise in cybersecurity, a potential career field I am interested in. This decision reflects my educational growth which will increase my career options and opportunities.

My co-op experience at Shepherd Color Company contributed heavily to my development in communication, collaboration, and leadership. Working in a structured, multi-level IT department was a shift from my experience at Fecon, requiring me to rely on senior team members and follow established processes. As the least tenured member of the team, I learned how to take on a supportive role for the majority of my experience. However, I was also able to demonstrate leadership during a cybersecurity awareness project, where I collaborated with the cybersecurity analyst to deliver presentations across multiple company locations. This experience strengthened my ability to communicate technical concepts to diverse audiences. Together, these moments helped me better understand when to lead and when to support a team, both necessary skills in the IT landscape.

In terms of technical development, I have taken initiative outside of formal coursework to build relevant, industry-aligned skills. I am currently preparing for the CompTIA Security+ and Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) certifications to demonstrate my knowledge in cybersecurity and cloud technologies. Additionally, I am working on a self-directed home networking project with peers, where we are designing and securing a mock corporate environment. By documenting this process in my learning portfolio my technical skill will be apparent to potential employers.

Looking ahead, I want to continue developing both my technical expertise and my confidence in leadership roles. My upcoming position at Maverick Molding, where I will work in a two-person IT team supporting an entire organization, will be an opportunity to further strengthen my soft and technical skills. Alongside this, I hope to continuously improve the landscape of the mock corporate network in terms of functionality or security as well as continuously upskill in terms of achieving more industry-recognized certifications.