In Hispanic Heritage Month, we have fun 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 Founding father of Networking Academy’s Ladies Rock-IT Program, I take nice pleasure in sharing the influence of this program with individuals like Debbie and the onflow influence they’ve of their communities.
“I’m not on the lookout for a job, I’m on the lookout for a profession.”
When “born and bred” Texan, Debbie Gomez, went from being a full-time mom of three kids to being a scholar at Collin County Neighborhood School, you would be forgiven for considering it was a chance to decelerate a bit of.
Apparently, that’s not in Debbie’s DNA—getting concerned and serving to individuals is. At the same time as a faculty scholar, Debbie spent summers in Mexico studying Spanish from the native kids and instructing them English in return. It shouldn’t be a shock that when she enrolled in faculty, she would go all-in.
IT was Debbie’s first selection
IT was Debbie’s first selection, as a result of she had seen information tales concerning the demand for cybersecurity consultants. “I’m not on the lookout for a job, I’m on the lookout for a profession,” she says. “Once I enrolled at Collin School I began as a cybersecurity main, however after taking some NetAcad courses I noticed that I’m actually keen on the blinking lights—the routers and the switches—a lot in order that I modified my main to pc networking.”
Assembly extra ladies in IT
“I attended Ladies Rock-IT in my first semester, I met a whole lot of ladies within the business, and one factor I actually beloved is that they get to journey and work. I would like to have the ability to have that chance,” she says.
One other large a part of the attraction to networking—and the Academy Program—was the hands-on expertise on provide.
Cybersecurity at Collin
“Cybersecurity at Collin is extra theoretical, and I used to be on the lookout for extra technical,” she says. “Once I was in a position to mess around with the switches, learn how to patch cables, all of that received my consideration…and there’s a whole lot of safety concerned in pc networking as properly, it’s nearly just like the gatekeeper, in order that’s what I actually loved.”
Debbie says she’s not alone in switching from the four-year Cybersecurity Bachelor’s Diploma course at Collin to the two-year Pc Networking Affiliate’s Diploma, and has even petitioned the school to broaden the Bachelor’s program to incorporate pc networking. She’s hoping the school makes the change, though it will occur after she’s already accomplished her research. “It will be my legacy,” she says.
It wouldn’t be her solely legacy at Collin.
Networking with neighbors
When Debbie first began IT Necessities, she realized a whole lot of members had earlier expertise that she lacked. “Nearly everyone that begins in tech has some sort of background in know-how,” she says.
“They’d in all probability constructed a pc. I had not. I’d by no means opened a pc earlier than. So, attempting to maintain up with the tempo of the category, and eager to spend extra time on the gear, I made a decision I wanted one thing to mess around with at residence,” she says. She put a notification in her neighborhood app asking whether or not anybody had any gear to donate. “I didn’t care if it labored or not, I simply wanted to interrupt it aside.”
“I had an enormous response, there’s a whole lot of IT professionals who gave me switches, routers, wi-fi entry factors, a whole lot of stuff,” she says.
Membership collaboration at Collin
Patrick Evans, Self-discipline Lead – Pc Networking Program, Collin County Neighborhood School, says the response was in all probability so large as a result of the Dallas space is a tech hub, housing quite a few acquainted tech companies, and even a giant Cisco Buyer Expertise Middle on the identical street as one of many Collin School campuses.
Beginning in with the gear in her storage, Debbie invited classmates to come back over and collaborate, and, with the encouragement of Professor Evans, ultimately shaped the Pc Science and Engineering Membership.
The membership provides a platform for mentorship and networking and is extra widespread than Debbie might have imagined. “I’ve by no means led a membership earlier than, we began very small, it was identical to 5 members,” she says. With greater than 200 present members, “we’re the largest membership proper now within the IT heart—we continue to grow!”
Debbie makes the Networking Academy Dream Group
If persevering with to take care of her household, learning, working the membership, and a few internships weren’t sufficient, Debbie was additionally a part of the Dream Group at Cisco Reside in Las Vegas in June 2023.
The Dream Group 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 superior to be taught from the community engineers,” she says. “I’m so glad that Professor Evans taught me learn how to patch cables…it got here in helpful, as a result of the opposite Dream Teamers had by no means achieved that earlier than. So I ended up displaying them learn how to put an RG45 on a cable!”
“It was superb,” she says. “It was top-of-the-line instances of my life. It was assembly lots of people, assembly a whole lot of Cisco executives, studying from them, serving to arrange the community…it was very exhausting, however it was completely price it.”
Certifications to safe the dream
As if Debbie weren’t engaged sufficient, she has additionally accomplished the pre-apprenticeship part of the Cisco CX Apprenticeship Program. She achieved the required CCNA certification and is at the moment self-studying for the DevNet certification. DevNet is a requirement to finish throughout the second half, which is six months full-time paid work as a Technical Consulting Engineer inside Cisco’s Buyer Expertise group. “My dream profession is to work for Cisco,” she says.
Within the meantime, she’s making ready to take CCNP, her last class at Collin School earlier than commencement within the Spring of 2024.
If the sheer variety of actions Debbie has engaged in since returning to check appears overwhelming, she dismisses it breezily: “I’m from Texas,” she says, “go large or go residence!”
Discover extra inspiring success tales at netacad.com/careers/success-stories.
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