This is a guest post written by Tinh from Iowa. He received an Amazon Future Engineer scholarship and took part in CyberStart America.
I love the puzzle and game aspect of CyberStart. It makes learning and solving cybersecurity puzzles exciting.
Tinh is among 100 new Amazon Future Engineer scholarship recipients to receive $40,000 over four years to study computer science starting this fall and a guaranteed, paid internship opportunity at Amazon after their freshman year of college!
Recipients were chosen based on a variety of criteria, including their academic achievement, demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities.
We caught up with Tinh to find out how CyberStart America helped him earn an Amazon Future Engineer scholarship and his future career plans.
How did you get started with cybersecurity?
I started my cybersecurity journey during my Junior year of high school. Normally, I would have started in my senior year, but due to scheduling conflicts, I took the cybersecurity class early. Although a lot different than my previous experiences in computer science, I enjoyed the class a lot. The concepts and peers made the class interesting and fun to learn.
Describe your experience of CyberStart
I loved CyberStart. It was something extracurricular, but it was a lot of fun. I have always loved solving puzzles, so I felt like a kid again.
I love the puzzle and game aspect of CyberStart. It makes learning and solving cybersecurity puzzles exciting. Even though some challenges were difficult, I loved trying to solve each puzzle. There was guidance for challenges, so nothing was impossible.
I loved CyberStart. It was something extracurricular, but it was a lot of fun.
If you had to give advice to anyone worried about giving cybersecurity a go, what would you say?
Definitely give it a try! Cybersecurity takes no previous knowledge, so everyone can do it. You learn a lot of valuable skills, regardless of what profession you intend to go into. Learning how to keep your system safe is one of the most important lessons you can learn in cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity takes no previous knowledge, so everyone can do it.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?
I either hope to be in the workforce as a software engineer or continuing my education in either a masters degree or a PhD.
Just like Tinh, by playing CyberStart, you can make your resume stand out for college and scholarship applications. Check out our blog post on 6 ways to make your college application stand out with CyberStart or get started right away!
