The Teacher Becomes the Student - From School Teacher to Security Professional

No matter how difficult it may feel and no matter what people say, as long as you're passionate about learning cyber security, you'll succeed

This is the story of how Kassandra made the career change from a high school teacher to a security practitioner using TryHackMe.

How did you start learning cyber security?

Over the past couple of years, the number of organizations getting breached has been increasing. Any time I read an article or watched the news, there was always another story about organizations getting hacked. I've always been curious about how these breaches happen and how organizations respond to them. I started doing some introductory reading on the different areas of security and found that the entire industry excited me.

I eventually made the jump, enrolled in intense training courses for CompTIA certifications and used TryHackMe to supplement my learning.

What was the most challenging part of learning cyber security, and how did you rise above those challenges?

The hardest part was approaching cyber security without any background in security or technology. All the technical skills and concepts in cyber security can be somewhat abstract and theoretical - TryHackMe helped me solidify my learning and get some hands on experience with practical and realistic exercises.

How did TryHackMe help you learn

TryHackMe's learning paths have been very useful because they provide that hands on, practical experience that is not usually given in other traditional learning environments. A lot of traditional learning environments just cover the theory behind running programs and commands - by doing rooms on TryHackMe, I was able to bridge that gap to understand how things worked practically.

The structure of the rooms and learning pathways make it as easy as possible for someone without prior experience to learn technical concepts. The task material was very thorough and easy to digest - when I was stuck, I could also refer to videos.

What have you accomplished with your newly learned skills?

Using TryHackMe has helped me bridge the gap between theory and practise - I feel like I've learnt practical security knowledge that's applicable to what is required in the cyber security industry. I've recently used this knowledge to start a role as a security specialist.

What advice would you give someone just starting in cyber security

Don't give up! Cyber security can be very difficult sometimes. No matter your background or experience level, as long as you stay motivated, you will succeed.

How did you feel about switching your career, and what would you say to others in the same position?

I've always been interested by technology and when I got to learn about cyber security, I was extremely excited by this new career pathway. The change may feel difficult and there will be people telling you that you won't be able to do it, but as long as you're passionate about it, you will succeed.