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It’s been quite crazy these past few months!

Since ending my teaching contract July, I have:

• Left China after 12 years
• Left education and teaching after nearly as long
• Reunited with (most) family after years apart
• Studied and acquired four certifications in a completely new industry using a (mostly) new set of skills
• Built several projects
• Attended an industry conference (ServiceNow Dallas)
• Participated in a CTF competition
• Written an entirely new resume (with help)
• Begun the job hunt!

I have all these things I’ve studied and made and participated in, but I haven’t had a chance to use them professionally yet. They’re just building and building and building in my head….

So, if that’s true – what have I learned from all of this?
(maybe some are learned, and others more “reminded of”)

1. What I love more than anything — seems to be learning.
   • I kind of get why some people stay at university forever. It’s like a drug — just keep chasing all these new tools — but like a drug, it does have a negative side to it. (we’ll get to that in #4)
2. There are entire worlds running under and on top of your own world that you never even think about and never even knew existed.
   • Netsec Reddit, Cybersec Twitter, professional organizations, conferences, “working groups”, and all kinds of discussions are taking place that simply aren’t talked about in wider society, and trying to come to grips with everything that’s going on is…daunting.
     • I guess that’s why people pick a specialty to focus on, right?
3. It has taken a lot longer than I realized it would to find my feet.
   • Coming back to the USA hasn’t been easy!
4. I need to chill out and do one thing at a time.
   • I don’t regret what I’ve done in terms of learning — networking, then security, then cloud — it’s been a great foundation — but what I do regret is going down too many unnecessary rabbit holes such as security projects and too-difficult Python projects that didn’t pan out because I’m trying to be a master of everything. Not possible.
   • You can’t effectively learn every single thing at the same time. It’s just not possible, and that’s a little bit what I’ve done.
5. (More like 4b) I have to walk before I can run.
   • I recognize that I cannot jump straight into something like compliance, auditing, infosec, and all that stuff….even though I’d really like to.
   • Get the networking experience FIRST.
   • THEN pick what you want to do with that networking experience and explore what it can be a bridge to.
     • I like the idea of help desk, then junior network admin, network admin, then work in some form of blue team security and/or network architecture.
6. I’ve found I love the idea of being able to create and manage things that help keep people keep themselves and their property a little bit safer. That’s really quite a cool idea.
   • If I had to relate it to something I’ve done, I think it’s akin to creating a curriculum all on my own and teach students something from scratch and watch them grow not only in terms of skills and knowledge, but having the confidence to demonstrate their skills and knowledge.
     • I’m definitely going to miss that part of teaching high school kids. I already do, actually.

Honestly, I’m a bit nervous about where these job applications are going take me. I’ve got companies in Illinois, Virginia, Minnesota, North Carolina, and South Dakota all talking with me at the moment, and I’ve never even been to most of the cities that I’ve applied for jobs in.

No risk, no reward, right?

If not now, when?