Around five years ago, I ventured into the world of technology by building my first PC. Overclocking CPUs and GPUs—essentially a gateway drug to tech enthusiasts—soon followed, as I aimed to squeeze out a few extra frames per second. But before long, I realized I enjoyed tinkering with the hardware more than playing the games themselves. Taking computers apart and putting them back together—how cool is that!
But I quickly learned there was more to PCs than just taking them apart and putting them back together. This realization sparked my journey into building websites, which led me to dive into languages like HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and JavaScript. However, I soon discovered that the tech iceberg went far deeper than I had ever imagined.
JavaScript showed me that you could do more than just design a website—you could actually program a computer. This discovery led me to Python, C, and C++, opening up a world of loops, functions, classes, and recursion. Now, I was truly programming.
But to program effectively, you have to understand how information and data move—how computers communicate. This curiosity led me into networking: subnets, firewalls, VPNs, and VLANs. Inevitably, this journey brought me to the realm of cybersecurity, where protecting networks became the ultimate challenge.
On one side, you have the bad actors, tirelessly hunting for their holy grail--the zero-day exploit. Meanwhile, the good guys work just as tirelessly, analyzing networks, software, and hardware to stay one step ahead in their never-ending battle, hoping not to fall victim to the feared zero-day attack.
Now I find myself back at the beginning of this journey -- enrolled in an IT Support program offered by PerScholas, taking computers apart and putting them back together on my way to earning CompTIA's A+ Certification. I can't say where this road will end, but I guarantee you one thing: I'M GOING TO FIND OUT!