./hello_world

Welcome to my blog. Hopefully there will be some direction for this blog. I guess even if there is not any direction at least I will try to fill it with things that interest me and in turn interest the readers that come across this.

./creation

I have been meaning to create a blog for the past four months or so. In particular to share my thoughts and attempt to contribute my ideas, findings, and interests to the community to either inspire or help others the same way I was with the blogs of others. On a second motive, I wanted to write a blog to help with my articulation skills. My friend likes to tell me I can have the same effect by reading books (in many cases she’s right). I feel however, writing constantly in variate formats from professional to personal, I will help practice some of those writing skills needed for communicating in general.
Hopefully within the year though, I am able to read some book or another; it seems like all I do lately is read manuals and whitepapers but never books with vast stories or about great philosophers. This is just one of those goals I wish to accomplish but we will see where that goes.
So, how about a proper introduction about myself?

./whoami

I am currently an undergraduate at Arizona State University. My degree I decided to go into was Computer Systems Engineering however, I also sprinkled in some Cyber Security in there as well. See, at ASU, there are minors but also things called “concentrations” which allow for someone to specialize in something within their degree field. So for example, CS (Computer Science) majors can take a concentration in Software Engineering and graduate with a full CS degree but now with specialized flavor. Kind of neat in my opinion. I may make another post sometime later about doing CSE (Computer Systems Engineering) instead of CS as I could drone on about that.
While at ASU, I have been trying my best to take advantage of the resources available as well as make connections with those who interest me and are genuinely awesome people. This has lead me to join ASU’s premiere Capture The Flag team called pwndevils. I have met some brilliant people while in that CTF team from the President of the team to even a super bright high-schooler (now a freshman in college).
I have also joined another cyber security club on campus which is newer than pwndevils called DevilSec. This is more of a Penetration Testing club as opposed to CTFs and research. I have become one of the officers of the club which is also really fun. This gives me the ability to help others from a different position than laterally. I always try to lead laterally or upwards if I can however, being in a position where people go to you because it is more obvious is nice because more people tend to ask for help from me. It is something I do truly enjoy is helping others learn concepts I also struggled with and then see them excel in that field.
This club is really cool in my opinion because anyone can get into penetration testing. Sometimes the CTFs are not always everyone’s cup of tea or it is hard to start off in that area. Penetration testing is a field I feel many people can start learning quite easily if they are just coming into cyber security. Not saying it is easy, but I would argue it is much easier than doing CTFs as those pose challenges which sometimes require those fundamental skills to be in place. I could drone on more about CTF clubs versus penetration testing clubs but in hindsight, they are both useful topics. You can use concepts learned in both in the other.
Lastly, I love music. I am more into electo-swing, grunge, ska, punk, classical, jazz, ….. ..it just goes on. I will listen to most things if it has a decent beat or decent vocals; If it has both, then that is a solid bonus! The instruments I love the most come to the ones I played in high school: Marimba, Drum set, Congas. Yes, I was a band nerd! I would have to say while I wish I did more cyber security or computer activities in high-school, I also do not regret the time I had exploring the realm of music education. As with any art, it helped with the troubling times I went through with my parents splitting up and even today I will use it as a means to let out stress. Of course now I do not have the space to really play any instruments but as a drummer, you learn anything in your life can be a drum.

./exit

So as a signing off note:

• Thank you for reading
• Hopefully more posts in the future are more interesting
• I may add something for people to add comments
  Till next time, I am off to go learn to my own beat.