Capstone Final Paper (PDF)

Over the course of the journey working on my capstone. I encountered a lot of struggles, challenges, and overall hardships which were presented to me in a surprising and interesting way. On the other hand, the knowledge that was obtained as well as the overall development to who I am as a person cam...

Over the course of the journey working on my capstone. I encountered a lot of struggles, challenges, and overall hardships which were presented to me in a surprising and interesting way. On the other hand, the knowledge that was obtained as well as the overall development to who I am as a person came as a surprise. I chose to complete the CompTIA Network+ exam and that brought a whole new level of commitment and dedication in order to attempt. The overall takeaways from completing the capstone were; the goals I was able to accomplish as well as the ones I did not accomplish, if I would take my capstone again if presented the opportunity, and what skills were gained as a result from completing the capstone. These ideologies are all relevant and crucial to the outcome of my capstone and with that, I am grateful for the opportunity to face the challenges presented with them. The capstone demonstrated what effort and time it takes in order to be successful within the tech industry. Prior to the capstone, I set and outlined some goals that I felt aligned with not only would help me with landing a position in the tech field but also would better myself as a student and person. Those being; becoming a better student, getting over the nervousness of job interviews. Overall, I know that my competence as a student benefited from the capstone because I had to develop a whole new way of studying and understanding a whole slew of information that I have never seen/read before. This was accomplished by instead of reading about a topic and pretending to have a great understanding of it, I applied that knowledge to real life examples by doing labs on HackTheBox that required that solid understanding to complete. Aside from applying my knowledge, I would set aside blocks of time to either study, read, or test my knowledge which was never a priority of mine before. Prior to completing the capstone, it was made impossible for myself to not get the jitters, sweats, or fumbling of my words when talking to someone in an interview setting. The capstone helped tremendously and in hindsight I am very grateful for it due to attending the Denver Water Expo where I was given the opportunity to discuss what I should look for with a position and gain experience with interviewing as I was able to act out some mock interviews with many of the interviewers at the fair. Attending the job fair granted me access to tips and tools that would impress companies looking for employees or candidates which resulted in my confidence in looking for positions as well as my demeanor in interviews to increase. Overall, my outlook on what goals I had set and the progress I made towards them is thrilling. Nonetheless, it is not realistic to achieve every goal that is set which unfortunately occurred during the capstone. Prior to the capstone I set a goal that seemed obtainable, however, not everything can go according to plan. During the course of my capstone, I made it a goal to cover every exam objective outlined in the Network + exam. I was able to cover a majority of the essentials and dove into a great deal of the specifics. Unfortunately, time got the best of me with trying to cram everything into a short three months. In hindsight, it would have been best to allocate more time into learning every objective as opposed to the effort of understanding every minor detail in each. An important part of growing and learning from your achievements and shortcomings is reflection. It is crucial to look back and think about what actions were taken to get to the present. If I were presented the opportunity to complete the capstone again, I would absolutely do it without a second thought. Thinking back to before the capstone I was a bit frightened at was required to be successful but with the end being near, it only made me a more successful person who doesn't turn at the first sight of something being difficult or uncomfortable. The best parts of the capstone are seeing the growth and progress made each week. Additionally, the skills and personal attributes gained from completing my capstone is something that I value and am grateful for. As for the worst parts, there were a few. The biggest being not passing the exam was really crushing, awful, and overall horrible. The performance based questions were the biggest shortcoming to the result of the exam. I found that I was struggling to formulate the solution to the problem at hand but on the other side of things, I crushed every other question that was presented. Before my second attempt at the Network + I am going to ensure that the performance based questions will be no issue and will do so by completing practice exams that specifically focus on those. Nonetheless, the capstone was a great foot in the door for how the real world is and the chance to complete it again would not only double down on what I already know but allow me to obtain more knowledge and skills that apply to my career. When spending the effort and energy to complete a task or goal in life, it is important to take time to think about the growth you achieved whether the outcome was as expected or not. The capstone gave the opportunity to gain many skills and that it did. Over the course of the capstone, I gained many valuable skills that apply not only to my career path but life as well. Prior to completing, I had the bare minimum of skills needed to configure a router, assign IP addresses to devices, troubleshoot connectivity issues, determine what hardware was needed for a specific need, and much more. Whether it was reading about them, watching informative YouTube guides, or doing labs I gained the skills needed to be successful within the tech industry. Without the capstone I do not know if I would have had the drive to improve any of these skills. With that being said, I also gained crucial skills/attributes that apply to my real life. Now I have the want and drive to improve on these skills so that I can better my knowledge and chances of landing my dream position in my career. Additionally, I now have the confidence to take on different social challenges that I did not feel comfortable with prior. I strive to have conversations that are tough whether it be with interviewers or people in my personal life. The overall effects and results from the capstone are imperative to a student's growth whether it be academically or personally. Thinking about three months ago, taking a look at every objective required to complete the capstone. Overwhelmed would be an understatement. Between attending a job fair, to mock interviews, or holding myself accountable in order to not fall behind the curve. Not just the capstone, but obtaining a degree is something I will forever be proud of. Subsequently, I am overjoyed to have endured the journey of my degree. Completing the capstone is something I encourage every student to attempt that has the opportunity to do so. With the goals I did and did not accomplish, questioning if I would take the capstone again, and the skills I obtained, my capstone is something that I am grateful for completing.