“After high school, I was working as corrections officer at a prison that happened to be right across the street from Belmont College. I soon realized that wasn’t the career for me. When I heard about how rewarding a career in information technology can be, I decided to take advantage of my employer’s tuition reimbursement program and attend Belmont College to pursue a degree in cyber security.
In my Cisco networking class, I fell in love with networking, and I knew it was what I wanted to do for a living. My instructor in that class told us how earning a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification could open the door to a great future in networking. That motivated me to learn as much as I could and work toward becoming a network engineer.
After graduating in December 2020 with a degree in Cyber Security, I went on to earn the CCNA certification. My Belmont education and the CCNA led me to my first IT job, as a network operations technician. After six months, I was ready for the next step. Today, I’m a full-time network engineer at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh.
If I could pass long any advice, it would be to never stop learning and never stop reaching for your goals, because hard work pays off.”