Graduation Post Mordem

5/20/2025

I'm done! Kinda!

On Saturday, May 17th, I graduated from Garrett Community College. While graduating from a community college may not seem like a huge deal, it was for me all things considered.

I didn't really know what I wanted to do after high school. I didn't bother to research what I might possibly like, but rather used the following logic:

I like computers + engineers make good money = Computer Engineering

This isn't terrible logic, although again, I didn't research much. I really had no idea what I would be getting myself into if I actually pursued that. Plus, I was going to play baseball for a D3 school.

I got scouted during one of my high school games. The assistant coach of the baseball team was watching a catcher on the other team, but I ended up doing well enough to where I also ended up getting an offer to pitch for D2. My father looked into their website and went, "They have cybersecurity" (they did not offer computer engineering). To understand how ignorant I was to not research the difference between computer engineering and cybersecurity, I gave it a thumbs up. I thought it was close enough.

The first fall semester didn't really spark anything of interest to me- there was a computer maintenance course, which was a cakewalk since I built a PC in middle school, an intro to cyber course which covered the most surface level concepts, and an algebra course. It wasn't until I took my first networking course in NetAcad that spring semester that I noticed there was some form of switch that flipped in my brain.

Networking is cool. I took it for granted before this clas, but after just understanding the differences between a router and a switch, I was hooked. I could see myself doing something with what I was learning. That same semester, I took a course regarding the Security+ certification, in which I obtained August 2024.

I studied for that certification the whole summer. Despite the fact that there was a whole semester of covering the material, I had to relook over everything to ensure that I wouldn't fail. 300 dollars was on the line, and losing that money would have not be fun. Especially after spending a whole summer on studying it!

I had momentum on my side. The next fall semester, I was studying for the Network+, CCNA, and Harvard's CS50. On top of baseball (which I will focus on that later), I was studying for study inside and outside of the classroom. Some of the topics mentioned in this post were already touched on in my first post, but I had to discontinue some of my efforts to focus on my actual classwork. I ended up getting my Network+ during that fall semester, November 2025.

It was also around the time I started my homelab. Many moons ago, I had this pre-built gaming PC, and I ended up scrapping it after roughly a year due to the CPU and GPU bottlenecking (one part was stronger than the other, affecting overall performance). I sold the GPU to a friend, but the rest of the components remained in the house collecting dust, until I found out that I could be applying what I have been learning in class to actual equipment. This phenomenon is known as homelabbing, and it has been a game changer.

I learned so much by just tinkering around with what interested me. Virtualization, Linux, VPNs, firewalls... I remember having a plethora of labs regarding pfSense, a popular firewall appliance. The first time I ran into it in my Security+ class, it felt like the most intimidating thing at the time. I run pfSense in my homelab now. I have parts of my network exposed to the internet (such as this wicked website!) and pfSense helps me isolate the public services from the rest of my important services running privately.

By the time the baseball season was about to start, I was ready to take my CCNA... but didn't... because the season started. In terms of what I contributed to the team? Very little. But in terms of how baseball enabled me to be on top of my work and stay productive, it was fantastic. That combined with my curiousity in messing around with my homelab, spring classes in Linux and ethical hacking weren't too bad. Considering that online college is a factor for after Garrett, I am okay with not continuing with baseball. I think it was neat to play college ball, but my passion for the sport is not as strong as the top players I got to witness over the past two years. My baseball journey is a whole different story that will probably never be told on this website. Maybe someday.

After losing in the playoffs and we got all of our tears out, I got to walk the stage for graduation. I graduated at the top of my class. Do I care? Not really. I am more focused on being able to do tasks, and I do not think a GPA directly reflects that. One of my professors heavily emphasized the importance of practical work over theoritical, and I agree. If I didn't agree, I wouldn't homelab.

So now, we are here. Now what? What do I do? I know I said in the previous post that I would continuing my journey through WGU. I am still considering physical schools. They have advantages, specifically networking being an important one. I am going to continue in Computer Science, as I am interested in the lower level operations of a computer, and I do not want to pigeon hole myself into cybersecurity, despite the fact that I enjoyed it enough to get two certifications. Sooner or later, they will come back to benefit me. Whenever that may be.

I was having a hard time staying in the present during my last year at community college. What's my next move, the best move, what major, I was wrestling with all of those thoughts, trying my best to chug along. As of recent, there appears to be an in state school that offers a Computer Science/Cybersecurity BS, which might be my best option. As long as I try and I get to know the right people, I should be okay. Maybe not good, but at least okay.

I have been trying to tie a pretty bow around this whole story, but the fact of the matter is that it is not over. It may never be over. I may be trying to tie a knot for the rest of my career. What is the analogy behind that? I have no idea. Continiously learning perhaps? Sure. I'll go with that. I will be trying to tie a pretty knot for a while. Stay tuned until I figure it out, I guess.

From P.