This week marked the official start of my Graduate School journey. I am currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity, with an Information Security specialization at Georgia Tech. I have been experiencing an incredible amount of emotions and feelings leading up to this week. I’m so excited about starting this journey; I love identity management, security, log files (I know), and IT in general. I am also petrified. I could barely sleep Sunday night, I haven’t experienced the “Sunday Scaries” in a long long time.

Anyone working in IT is likely familiar with the “lifelong learner” moniker. One has to constantly be willing to learn. There is always something new to learn, there is so much to learn in general, and it’s impossible to learn it all (even though it seems like we’re all trying to). There are endless certifications to pursue, tracks to follow, languages to learn, and specialties to dive into. I have gained certifications over my IT career but over the last few years I really started thinking about going back to University, either pursuing another Bachelors degree or trying to get into a Graduate program. Every time I sat down and really considered applying for programs I would immediately think about all the things going on in my life: I have kids now, I have a very demanding job, it’s going to be expensive.. the list went on and on. About a year ago I made the final decision. I was just going to apply and see what would happen. Having two kids at that point I had a pretty good understanding of what being completely exhausted felt like. I told myself I might as well apply, if I apply and don’t get in, it’s the universe telling me to move on for now and focus on other things, and if I did get accepted well.. I would just have to figure it out. One (of the many) benefits of having children is the forced ability to be fluid in almost every situation. Everything is constantly changing with them and I have to be fluid in order to keep up. I also happened to be in New York for a work trip that week, I had recently learned that I would need three letters of recommendation along with my application. Two directors and our Executive Vice President were also on this trip, perfect people to ask for letters of recommendation, as long as they said yes (they did!). The universe was putting it all together! After a few weeks I had everything I needed and submitted my final application.

I ended up hearing back about six months later. I had been accepted! It was an unbelievably exciting time. I felt proud, I was excited to start this journey, but also… reality started to sink in immediately. I was going back to school. With a demanding job, two young kids, and an old dog. I was really going to do this: learning to study again, listening to lectures, taking tests, all while having to balance a full adult life.

Today is Tuesday, August 25th. I have classes (well just one class actually. I’m easing back into the school life, really dipping my toe back in!) and I’m sitting here typing out the second half of this blog post in the pediatric intensive care unit with my son on my lap, tubes connected to him all over (he’s doing great but he’s unfortunately been hit with pneumonia and is going to be here for a while). I guess the universe decided to test me immediately upon starting school: “Hey, what could make this week harder? Let’s get one of these kids flipping sick AF lol”.

in the picu with kiddo

I have been asked over the last year or so why I was going back to school. If I really thought it was worth doing at this point in my life. I can’t speak for the value at this point. For one, I’m only one week in (one day in really), and even if I do finish I can’t guarantee it will pay off monetarily. Sometimes I question my real intent as well. Am I just doing this to make a statement, or prove something, to certain people in my life (probably yes…actually definitely)? Or do I truly believe this will put me on a path towards the success I have been envisioning for myself? I think the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. I’m mostly just a hyper nerd that loves IT, learning, reading, and has a massive chip on their shoulder. I also want to do this for my kids. Not specifically to show them that they need to stack up degrees or certifications, but to be an example of putting in the effort (proverbial elbow grease? Yikes I’m feeling extra parent and old). It doesn’t matter what you pursue in life or when in life you decide to pursue it, but when you do, put in the maximum effort. Do the absolute best you can while you can.

In my early twenties I worked for John’s Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. I was employed by the university but my job was stationed in the Johns Hopkins Hospital main campus. I didn’t hold a prestigious job there, it was actually extremely dull and ordinary, but had one of the biggest impacts on my life to this day. I mostly spent my days walking between research labs, specifically the “CRBs”, the Cancer Research Buildings. I became friendly with many of the people in the labs. Everyone from undergrads, to grad students, doctors, etc. it was wonderful. I used to walk through the halls of the labs and look at the maps of the world they would have displayed with push pins marking all the different countries the lab members were originally from. I would speak to so many different people, from all over the world, every day. They were all so dedicated to what they were doing - (slight woo woo warning ahead) - I truly believe just being around those people and that energy seeped into me. It motivated me more than anything had previously. It’s really where I first began my IT career. It’s where I decided to go back to school and it’s where I decided to obtain my first IT certifications.

This week is tough. My meetings are stacked up, my project tasks at work are piling up, I’ve got a sick kid in the hospital, a healthy active kid at home, a wife, and a mountain of study material to go through, but I am excited. If you are still here, thank you for reading through this! It’s easy to get wrapped up in the stress of everyday life. Wrapped up in all of this I have to remember the massively shining bright spots in my life that I am incredibly thankful for. I have an amazing wife who is my rock through all of this. At work, I have an amazing manager, as well as an amazing team to keep me grounded and cover when I need it most. Also, this week the new chicken and waffle sandwich released at Chick-fil-A and I was able to try it (it was delicious)!