[ad_1]
In Hispanic Heritage Month, we have a good time all of our Hispanic college students and alums of Cisco Networking Academy’s IT skills-to-jobs program. Debbie Gomez is one super-inspired particular person who’s sharing her ardour for know-how in her communities. As Founder of Networking Academy’s Women Rock-IT Program, I take nice pleasure in sharing the impression of this program with folks like Debbie and the onflow impression they’ve of their communities.
When “born and bred” Texan, Debbie Gomez, went from being a full-time mom of three kids to being a scholar at Collin County Community College, you possibly can be forgiven for pondering it was a possibility to decelerate somewhat.
Apparently, that’s not in Debbie’s DNA—getting concerned and serving to folks is. Even as a faculty scholar, Debbie spent summers in Mexico studying Spanish from the native kids and educating them English in return. It shouldn’t be a shock that when she enrolled in school, she would go all-in.
IT was Debbie’s first alternative
IT was Debbie’s first alternative, as a result of she had seen information tales in regards to the demand for cybersecurity consultants. “I’m not looking for a job, I’m looking for a career,” she says. “When I enrolled at Collin College I started as a cybersecurity major, but after taking some NetAcad classes I realized that I’m really fond of the blinking lights—the routers and the switches—so much so that I changed my major to computer networking.”
Meeting extra ladies in IT
“I attended Women Rock-IT in my first semester, I met a lot of women in the industry, and one thing I really loved is that they get to travel and work. I want to be able to have that opportunity,” she says.
Another huge a part of the attraction to networking—and the Academy Program—was the hands-on expertise on supply.
Cybersecurity at Collin
“Cybersecurity at Collin is more theoretical, and I was looking for more technical,” she says. “When I was able to play around with the switches, how to patch cables, all of that got my attention…and there’s a lot of security involved in computer networking as well, it’s almost like the gatekeeper, so that’s what I really enjoyed.”
Debbie says she’s not alone in switching from the four-year Cybersecurity Bachelor’s Degree course at Collin to the two-year Computer Networking Associate’s Degree, and has even petitioned the faculty to increase the Bachelor’s program to incorporate pc networking. She’s hoping the faculty makes the change, regardless that it will occur after she’s already accomplished her research. “It would be my legacy,” she says.
It wouldn’t be her solely legacy at Collin.
Networking with neighbors
When Debbie first began IT Essentials, she realized plenty of members had earlier expertise that she lacked. “Almost everybody that starts in tech has some type of background in technology,” she says.
“They’d probably built a computer. I had not. I’d never opened a computer before. So, trying to keep up with the pace of the class, and wanting to spend more time on the equipment, I decided I needed something to play around with at home,” she says. She put a notification in her neighborhood app asking whether or not anybody had any tools to donate. “I didn’t care if it worked or not, I just needed to break it apart.”
“I had a huge response, there’s a lot of IT professionals who gave me switches, routers, wireless access points, a lot of stuff,” she says.
Club collaboration at Collin
Patrick Evans, Discipline Lead – Computer Networking Program, Collin County Community College, says the response was most likely so huge as a result of the Dallas space is a tech hub, housing quite a few acquainted tech companies, and even a giant Cisco Customer Experience Center on the identical street as one of many Collin College campuses.
Starting in with the tools in her storage, Debbie invited classmates to come back over and collaborate, and, with the encouragement of Professor Evans, ultimately shaped the Computer Science and Engineering Club.
The membership gives a platform for mentorship and networking and is extra well-liked than Debbie may have imagined. “I’ve never led a club before, we started very small, it was just like five members,” she says. With greater than 200 present members, “we’re the biggest club right now in the IT center—we keep growing!”
Debbie makes the Networking Academy Dream Team
If persevering with to take care of her household, learning, operating the membership, and a few internships weren’t sufficient, Debbie was additionally a part of the Dream Team at Cisco Live in Las Vegas in June 2023.
The Dream Team consists of 5 Networking Academy college students who’re chosen from throughout the Americas, to work alongside Cisco engineers to assist arrange and preserve the community on the occasion.
“It was awesome to learn from the network engineers,” she says. “I’m so glad that Professor Evans taught me how to patch cables…it came in handy, because the other Dream Teamers had never done that before. So I ended up showing them how to put an RG45 on a cable!”
“It was amazing,” she says. “It was one of the best times of my life. It was meeting a lot of people, meeting a lot of Cisco executives, learning from them, helping set up the network…it was very exhausting, but it was totally worth it.”
Certifications to safe the dream
As although Debbie weren’t engaged sufficient, she has additionally accomplished the pre-apprenticeship section of the Cisco CX Apprenticeship Program. She achieved the required CCNA certification and is presently self-studying for the DevNet certification. DevNet is a requirement to finish in the course of the second half, which is six months full-time paid work as a Technical Consulting Engineer inside Cisco’s Customer Experience group. “My dream career is to work for Cisco,” she says.
In the meantime, she’s getting ready to take CCNP, her closing class at Collin College earlier than commencement within the Spring of 2024.
If the sheer variety of actions Debbie has engaged in since returning to review appears overwhelming, she dismisses it breezily: “I’m from Texas,” she says, “go big or go home!”
***
Explore extra inspiring success tales at netacad.com/careers/success-stories.
Ready to start your studying journey? Explore all of our programs.
Share: