What made you decide to choose your specific major?
I chose Network Engineering Technology mainly because I wanted to work with hardware devices. After taking a class during my sophomore year on networking, I was very fascinated by how each device communicates with one another the way humans do. I chose to add cybersecurity as a double major mainly after I took CNIT 270 and was fascinated with protecting people from cyber attacks.
What are a couple of your favorite things about your program of study?
I enjoy the labs that are offered by the CIT and Polytechnic departments. Each lab is an opportunity to apply what you learn from a lecture in real-time. I like to play with the different physical devices and virtual machines and this helps you stand out in the job market because you have already done the tasks that you would do in the job.
What has been one of your favorite class projects?
My favorite class project is the network design that we implemented in CNIT 345 (Internetwork Routing). In this class, we connected everyone's routers and switches together and used the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) as the main routing protocol to communicate with different hosts (computers) on the class network. I believe in the idea that we are all connected and to see 9 routers and switches all carrying network traffic through a backbone device, it's mind-blowing! It was a tedious task but we all helped each other to make sure that each device could ping the other device using IPv6 addressing.
What other activities are you involved in on campus?
I am the senator of the Residence Hall Association (RHA) representing First Street Towers, Intramural Supervisor at the Purdue CoRec (gym), Sports Analytics at Purdue (SAP) member, and Association of Information Technology at Purdue (PITP) member
What do you know about your program of study now that you wish someone had told you when you were choosing a major?
I wish people told me about the hours spent outside of class in labs. In a CIT major, you will find yourself going to lab outside of lab hours frequently and some of them are pretty long and time-consuming! I would highly recommend installing the CIT VPN and finding a way to remotely access your devices (SSH, Remote Desktop, etc.).
What would be one piece of advice for prospective students or new Purdue students?
Don't be afraid to try new things! It is perfectly normal to try something, fail, and then try another thing. You don't have to have everything figured out when you get here. Purdue University is the best place for opportunity and growth!