Follow Mathew in real-time as he enters a dual degree program in Cybersecurity and Software Development.
Episodes
Mathew talks about his background, military and past college career, career goals and why he chose IT.
Mathew talks about biggest challenges in starting his college career, why he chose CIAT, his enrollment experience, first classes, and passing his first cert exams.
Mathew talks about landing his first internship, earning IT certifications, CIAT’s career support team, and offers some words of advice for new students.
Mathew talks about his dual degree program, learning to code, and how he’s prepared himself to juggle both school and career.
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About Mathew
Mathew began his career in the Army where he was enlisted for 8 years. He spent 4 years as a Chinook helicopter mechanic, as well as a truck driver and a telecommunications operator for his battalion. As many veterans know, the transition from military to civilian life was a challenge after an 8 year run. He finally made the decision to go into tech to empower him to support his family and give him the flexibility to juggle work and home life.
Mathew initially began at Oregon State University in pursuit of a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Science. However, he wasn’t able to start a farm as he had planned due to zoning restrictions, and the work was very physically demanding. He dropped his program and decided to pursue a tech education. He was fortunate enough growing up to be exposed to people who were tech-savvy, and even built a computer lab at his school in his formative years. He’s since built his own computer lab at home.
Mathew needed to choose the right path that had a combination of hands-on skills, industry-focused certification preparation, and the flexibility to apply his skills to a working job. His plan is to land a job at a company like Tesla and apply his newfound skills and expertise to become a Cybersecurity systems architect, coming up with creative solutions to complex security issues. Follow Mathew through his programs in real-time, with 1-2 new episodes airing each month!