CompTIA Security+ Certification Journey Reflection PDF

RUNNING HEAD TITLE CompTIA Security + Certification Journey reflection Sean Mitchell Red Rocks Community College CIS 2089  RUNNING HEAD TITLE...

RUNNING HEAD TITLE CompTIA Security + Certification Journey reflection Sean Mitchell Red Rocks Community College CIS 2089  RUNNING HEAD TITLE 2 (SHORTENED) For my Capstone I chose to attain the CompTIA Security + certification as my goal. Since I am a person who is new to the Cybersecurity, and Information Technology (IT) field I Believe this Certification would not only help me to reach the goals I have set out to achieve. But help me validate the knowledge I have been learning during my time at Red Rocks Community College (RRCC) and through self-directed learning. Prior to This capstone class, I had already intended to try an attempt at the CompTIA Security + certification just to see where I stood with my current knowledge base. But to my dismay, during the summer the current version of the CompTIA security+, version SY0-601 was retired and replace with the new and current version SYO-701. With this new version came additions of new domains that previous versions such as SYO-601 didn’t focus on as much, such as cloud focused material. Through the 3 years that Version SYO-601 was out adoption of Cloud technology and its many different services has continued to diffuse through society becoming an essential part of operations for many businesses from small mom and pop shops to enterprise sized multinational companies. The new version made me slightly hesitant at taking the test. But with this class I decided to set it as my goal to force my hand and take an attempt no matter what by a specified deadline. To achieve this goal, I knew I needed to sharpen up on foundational skills, and learn about cloud technologies, have a thorough understanding of network security, and networking fundamentals. Thankfully, since I am double majoring Cybersecurity and networks & Systems. My school schedule had me taking an Intro to Cloud Computing course during the same semester I planned to take My Security+ certification. This class while building upon your knowledge you should have from taking courses such as Network fundamentals, and network security, goes back over the same subjects under the assumption you could possibly have no teaching of the subject prior to diving in on the cloud technology aspects. While one would have an easier time coming into this class with working experience of networking, you can learn valuable tidbits from going over information you may have previously learned about, but from a new perspective.  RUNNING HEAD TITLE 3 (SHORTENED) Red Rocks Curriculum For both Cybersecurity and Networks & Systems undoubtedly helped me to achieve my successful passing of the CompTIA security+ certification. I believe the classes that helped me to accomplish this was the network security fundamentals course, networking fundamentals, and the intro to cloud courses. The network Security fundamentals course is directly formulated to be able to take the CompTIA security+ certification after. As I took that course my first semester coupled with network fundamentals, my true understanding and grasp of the theories, and principles I was learning were still fuzzy to me, but they did open my eyes and start that real interest to learn more about the field I want to be in. Through my time taking these courses I learned about many subjects I believe will prove to be useful to me in my career in the information security field some of these subjects would be network security, with networking theory, that has allowed me to study on my own time to apply the principles and theories. This hands-on application of the knowledge from class has helped instill confidence in my abilities. A culminating point was the capstone projects in the Intro to cloud course that involved building cloud infrastructure on the major cloud platforms. To build cloud infrastructure and deploy live you need to have some understanding of networking, and ideally network security, as it would be the best interest of any organization to harden their systems, whether on premises, or in the cloud. By continuously applying the knowledge I have learned it has helped my retention and understanding of the topics I am presented with and allowed me to form the ability to do basic troubleshooting on networking devices in layers one though three (physical, data link, network). For me to achieve my Goal I had to understand what the best way for me would be to Ensure I could be prepared to the best of my ability. Since the cost of the CompTIA certification was a few hundred dollars, with a student voucher, I only had once chance to pass this test. As my funds at this time are limited my plan was to lean on free resources such as YouTube and the Education subscription services I had already for ACILearning and Tryhackme These services allowed me to watch lectures on the subjects related to my interested fields and the chosen certification I was looking to attain, and had  RUNNING HEAD TITLE 4 (SHORTENED) a plethora of practice labs and practice exams I could use to build my hands-on skills in securely configuring network devices, building IP address schemes and deploying them. Free sources like YouTube were invaluable and a vital part to my success. With so many aspiring cybersecurity influencers and developed channels viewed as repositories of information with years of relevant content. You can build a wide sample of practice exam questions to go over in a format that is portable allowing me to learn on the move. But the most invaluable aspect learned from the free resources was seeing the individuals presenting process of breaking down the questions, and the key words that stood out to help narrow down choices and give yourself the best opportunity. Some challenges that presented themselves during my time preparing for this, was being notified of my close cousin’s terminal cancer diagnosis of only a few months, in early November, to that becoming only a few weeks by thanksgiving while dealing with other issues presented by life and the semester. But to appreciate the goal I have achieved I have to understand the journey it took me to get there and not dwell on what one can’t control. In Closing This capstone experience has truly helped me get a better grasp on the subjects in networking and information security. The teachers at Red Rocks were very insightful in their responses to questions, and their ability to break a very technical subject down to laymen’s terms so that people coming into the field can learn the subject without it being overwhelming. The guidance of people who can not only teach the subject but practically apply to show demonstrations of what you are learning helps solidify the topics under review. Some Serious shortcomings for me were my own self-doubts, and imposter syndrome about if I even knew anything about the field. And gratefully I can see the tangible efforts of all the time I spent this semester focusing on watching lectures, taking practice exams, and practice labs to build and grow foundation when I look at that certification. I think if I ever had to take a capstone again, I would choose to do a fair amount of the same route I took this time. I feel the time I put into learning the topics and applying myself to have a concrete understanding of the material  RUNNING HEAD TITLE 5 (SHORTENED) needed before a deadline were a big help for me as I always want to make sure I can be prepared to the best of my ability. Outside of all the unfortunate situations presented during this semester. I have learned that if you can apply the 5 P’s, you can reduce your odds of failing, or being caught in a situation you didn’t prepare for Prior, Planning, Prevents, poor, Performance. And while I haven’t been able to do everything perfectly this semester, By proactively thinking, and taking the time you can before it is required of you can reap the rewards later. RUNNING HEAD TITLE 6 (SHORTENED) RUNNING HEAD TITLE 7 (SHORTENED)