In 2012, I gave an ultimatum to my then husband with a 1-yr deadline. I extended that deadline to 2 yrs. He did not follow-through, so I decided to move forward with getting to a place where I could support myself as a divorced single mom.
The small community college in my area surprisingly offered a new 4-yr Bachelor's program in Cyber Security. I scheduled an appt with a counselor, but unbeknownst to me, they mistakenly scheduled the appt with the Outreach/Retention specialist in the Cyber dept.
So, I went and heard her spiel. I saw how the instructors interacted with the students & w/ea other. I saw that a job in cyber has excellent job security regardless of age/gender. I met another woman around my age who went through a divorce and she said she loved it.
My friend told me: JA, in 4 yrs you can be exactly where you are today, or you can be a college graduate. What do you want? That kicked me in the rear end. So I signed the dotted line. That friend heard tears thru those 4 yrs. He encouraged me many times.
In 2018, I got my degree. At the end of 2019, I was offered a job as project manager for our cyber grp. I pushed myself. But I also had a bunch of cheerleaders (@wartwatch @BozT @futuristguy & others). I'm here to tell you ladies who have walked a similar path: YOU CAN DO THIS.
If cyber is available in your area, check it out. If I can do it, so can you. There will never be enough cyber professionals. The $$ is good. And it's fun. Bec of this, I have been able to be financially independent. If it's not available in your area, there may be full
programs available online. I know a lot of ladies have followed my personal story. I am no one special. This is something you can achieve, too! Please feel free to ask me questions. I want to encourage you to reach for the stars!
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