Why Cybersecurity

System Defender was a tower defense game and a security system for the Elite Penguin Force. The objective was simple: place defensive turrets to kill "bugs" before they reach the mainframe computer.

I loved the defensive aspect of the game, how the turrets at the front whittled down the adversaries and the turrets in the back picked off any bugs that got through, creating a beautifully layered defense.

Another game where I find defense very satisfying is Rocket League. The game is very easy to understand. It is soccer but you're a flying car. In this game, defense is typically structured as two layers: a 1st man and a 2nd man.

This system works similarly to that of System Defender from Club Penguin. The first defender acts as a nuissance to the opponent, either disarming the ball or forcing it into the next line of defense. The second defender cleans up anything that manages to squeak through.

I have always loved the satisfaction of defense. I even played as a defenseman in ice hockey for 10 years of my life, disarming opponents, blocking shots (ouch), and progressing my team out of the defensive zone.

So it only made sense to choose cybersecurity as a career with my passion for defense and computers. Like 6 year old me, who fell in love with System Defender, I still find beauty and elegance in defensive systems to this day. From video games to real world cybercrime, I not only want to build strong defenses, but I wish to protect civilians in the online world that is the Internet.