Cadet Cyber Program Video Transcript
[Tremaine Reid – Senior Cadet] – When I was a kid, I spent a lot of my time playing on computers and like tinkering around with technology. Combining a desire for service and interest with technology is what lead me into cybersecurity.
[Brandon Clark – Junior Cadet] – I’m a very technology driven individual, and so I was on UNG’s website picking my major when I saw cybersecurity. Using computers to ethically hack, I thought, that sounds pretty cool.
[Bryson Payne, Ph.D. – Professor, Computer Science and Information Systems] – We need more cyber awareness. It’s important both for our national security and our individual security.
[Jaden Davidson – Junior Cadet] – With the cybersecurity major, in almost every single class they emphasize that we’re learning this base foundational knowledge so that you are equipped to secure it in the end.
[Brandon Clark] – As cybersecurity professionals in our future careers, we need to know how to break in so we know how to better protect it.
[Tremaine Reid] – Within the classes, there’s a big focus on practical, hands-on learning.
[Bryson Payne, Ph.D.] – We really use a lot of technology in the classroom that they’ll see when they go out on the job.
[Jaden Davidson] – Downloading real-time, real-word applications that we would need to become familiar with in order to progress in our career field.
[Brandon Clark] – We have the cyber range, and you get dual monitors preloaded with virtual machines. Theres no just sitting there listening to the professor when you’re able to sit there and do everything that he’s doing.
[Bryson Payne, Ph.D.] – We’re proud of our cyber cadets. They’re really the first people we built this cyber leadership program for. They’ve got that leadership experience and they’ve got the technical know-how to apply cybersecurity for any organization all the way up to our military and federal government.
[Tremaine Reid] – Our CyberHawks and our Cyber Unit participates in a lot of competitions, such as the NSA Codebreaker.
[Bryson Payne, Ph.D.] – It’s a complex, 100-day competition that focuses on a real-life scenario. That’s one of the things we love about competitions, is that it gives them a chance to apply what they’ve learned and really take their learning to another level.
[Brandon Clark] – Both the Cybersecurity program and the Corps of Cadets have trained me for the next step.
[Tremaine Reid] – They genuinely care. I’m definitely glad I chose the University of North Georgia.
[Jaden Davidson] – There are so many benefits, it’s a profitable and rewarding career.
[Bryson Payne, Ph.D.] – So whether a student’s going into the Army, private industry, or going into a three-letter agency, they’ve got the best preparation they can have coming from UNG.