Braeden Parenteau

Caitlin Allen

What made you choose Champlain?

Besides the specialized degree, the Upside-Down Curriculum and the career focus of the school made me feel that investing my time at Champlain would make me successful. I liked that my first two years wouldn’t be classes not related to my major, and instead, I could use my first year to see if I liked what I was doing and also learn basic skills that many employers seek in entry-level positions.

How has Core changed your perspective of yourself and the world?

Core touched on a lot of topics that made me challenge my own beliefs and learn about how my actions impact those around me. In the end, it has made me think in a more global and open-minded way that I can now apply to my field. I’ve thought more about the ethics and morals I have when it comes to the type of work I would do in my field, where I want to work, and how I impact the world we live in. This is really emphasized in our Capstone, and I like how, in our final year, we are forced to examine how we impact the world through our career field.

Are you involved in any clubs or activities on campus?

I’m the Communications Lead for Women in Technology, a club focused on providing a safe and inclusive space for our women and non-binary students in the Division of Information Technology & Sciences Division and Game Studio. Here, we provide support for those who need it, connect with other minorities in the technology field, and learn about different topics like intersectionality, networking, and cool technical topics like election hacking or game organization!

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Lily Jackson

Specialization

Cybersecurity

Favorite Class

Any tech class!

How has the Upside-Down Curriculum impacted your education?

I did Cisco Networking for three years in high school and I liked it a lot, so I knew I wanted to continue learning about it. Since I knew what I wanted to do from the start, the Upside-Down Curriculum was very helpful in confirming that the Computer Networking & Cybersecurity program was where I wanted to be.

Are you involved in any extracurricular organizations?

I’ve been an officer in the Womxn in Technology club for the past two years, and an officer in the Cybersecurity Club for a year. I’ve also been in the Digital Forensics Association for two years. I enjoy these clubs because you can come together with your friends and classmates to learn something that you may not discuss in classes.

How has your time at Champlain prepared you for the professional world?

From the InSight curriculum to all my tech classes, I feel prepared to be out in the real world because I’ve been given so many opportunities for success. All of the professors here want to help you succeed in classes and in the rest of your career.

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James Kainth

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Aaron Leach

Specialization

Cybersecurity Operations

Internship

Programming Intern at the Leahy Center for Digital Forensics & Cybersecurity

What projects have you worked on that you found particularly rewarding?

My final project for my first year Business & Entrepreneurial Mindset class was to make a customer value proposition for a business we came up with. My group came up with a product that ended up not only getting us an A on the final, but also led to my professor inviting me to present the project idea to Samsung in New York. That project got me into the finals for the Elevator Pitch competition that year as well.

How has your Champlain experience prepared you for your future career?

With the large amount of hands-on work with software and tools, I feel like my classes have helped me prepare my technical skills really well. Out of the classroom, the number of extracurriculars and resources available have helped me explore my interests and learn transferable skills.

What advice do you have for students thinking about coming to Champlain for college?

Try your hardest to physically come to Burlington. Picture and videos just don’t do it justice. Once you see the lake at sunset there is no going back. Also, bring a winter coat-you’re going to need it.

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Bronson Leclerc

Favorite Class

Systems Security

Post-Grad Job

Systems Administrator

How do you feel about your professors at Champlain?

The professors at Champlain have all really cared about the students. None of them are there to fail students or to just grade assignments. They all genuinely care and want the students to learn. They are flexible within reason, and are always open to a one-on-one conversation about anything.

What projects have you worked on in classes that you’ve found particularly rewarding and useful?

I’ve worked on many great projects during my time at Champlain, but if I had to single some out, I would say all of the projects we have worked on in my System’s Security class have been really useful. They are self-directed in the sense that you are assigned an objective and must complete that objective in any way that you can. This has been very useful in preparing us for real life. In the real world, no one will sit down with you and walk you through how to solve a problem. You have to use your resources and think through the problem on your own to find a solution. This class has really helped me to develop those skills.

How has your Champlain experience prepared you for your future career?

Champlain has prepared me for my future career exceptionally well. I have grown as a person and developed many skills that will serve me well in life unrelated to my field. Additionally, my coursework has provided an unbelievable education that will allow me to succeed in my career. The thing that has had the most profound effect on my future career while at Champlain is the Leahy Center. The experience I have received while working at the Leahy Center has been invaluable, and it was the perfect supplement to my coursework and personal development.

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Mackenzie Marsocci

Internship

Intern at NuHarbor Security in Essex Junction, VT

What drew you to Champlain initially?

I attended the Cybersecurity & Digital Forensics Summer Academy before coming to college, and that gave me a lot of hands-on experience and allowed me to work for a few weeks in the Leahy Center for Digital Investigation before I was even a Champlain student. I met some professors I’m still close with, and having that kind of encouragement gave me the push I needed to pick a career path that wasn’t necessarily in the plan.

So how did you decide your double major?

I decided to declare in Cybersecurity because that’s what I enjoyed the most at the Summer Academy, and then I decided to add Digital Forensics. I knew it would be a lot more work, but I like being busy.

Have you studied abroad?

Yes! I studied abroad in Dublin, Ireland. We lived in a neighborhood called the Liberties. The great thing about living there is that you don’t feel like a tourist. You get connected right away to the local community, and you realize that there are people living their lives there. Shopping at the local shops and staying away from the big grocery stores is very important because it allows you to get to know people in the community.

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Alexander Marvi

Internship

Cyber Security intern at ComCode GmbH in Gröbenzell, Germany

So what do you like about the Cybersecurity major?

I like to say it’s more of a lifestyle than a major because it’s one of those fields that is evolving every single day. You can be the smartest cybersecurity person alive and know everything, but if you were to drop off the face of the Earth for a year and come back, you would be behind. Things change every day, and to stay on top of it you have to follow the news and talk with people in the industry. It’s a very tight-knit community. We help each other out because you can’t go about this stuff single-handedly.

Can you tell us about your ComCode internship?

I worked for ComCode GmbH in Gröbenzell, Germany as a Cyber Security Intern focusing on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) research and development. I was responsible for two main projects, including a live investigation to help businesses understand what sensitive information could be gathered and reported to a company from the internet that could be potentially destructive to those businesses. I was hands-on throughout the entire investigation, using a lot of tools in a new field I had never encountered before.

How did Champlain prepare you for this internship?

Champlain’s unique approach to tech classes prepared me by giving me a solid foundational knowledge of cybersecurity before starting the internship. Most importantly, my classes taught me how to learn. At Champlain, we learn how to dig into a topic, research it, and master it even if we’ve never encountered it before. I can teach myself to utilize new technology to do my job in a fast and efficient manner.

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Dylan Navarro

Concentration

Cybersecurity Operations

Internships

The Leahy Center at Champlain College, Department of Defense in San Diego, CA

Favorite Class

Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing

Post-Grad Job

Department of Defense

What drew you to your major?

I’ve always found technology fascinating. Growing up playing multiplayer games with my friends is what got me interested in a career in some IT discipline. I really enjoyed learning how to set up game servers and keep them running so I could play with my friends. As time progressed, I wanted to take my technical knowledge and use that to help people. Digital forensics seemed like a great way to do that. Once I arrived at Champlain I started working at the Leahy Center. The work I did there made me realize I really enjoy the topics covered in the Cybersecurity major. For that reason, I decided to double major my sophomore year. The world is more digital than ever, and every day more and more items are connected to the internet. With this growth of technology has also come cybercrime. These cybercriminals conduct operations that can target individuals or large scale organizations that impact hundreds to millions of people across the globe. The cybersecurity industry and law enforcement have been working hard to stop these cybercriminals but there is a shortage of skilled professionals.

What opportunities have allowed you to apply classroom learning to real-world experience in your field?

The Northeastern Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NECCDC) was a great opportunity I participated in that allowed me to apply my classroom learning to real-world settings. NECCDC is a competition in which students from institutions across the Northeast defend simulated company networks against professional ethical hackers. Working on a team of eight, students have to defend a network over multiple days while also completing business objectives to ensure that the fictitious company is still operational during cyber-attacks. I have been fortunate enough to have participated in this event for the past three years moving my way up to our team’s Linux lead.

How do you think your experiences will give you a competitive advantage post-grad?

Through the hands-on learning at Champlain and the work I’ve done at the Leahy Center I have experience with many industry standard technologies. This is something that a lot of people my age don’t have. Since starting at Champlain I have been working in positions that are directly relevant to my field. This means that when I graduate, I will have about four years of relevant work experience.

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Emily Platz

Specialization

IT Systems & Infrastructure

Service Learning Trip

Zanzibar, Tanzania

Internship

Systems Engineering Intern at Palo Alto Networks in Santa Clara, CA

Post-Grad Job

Associate Systems Engineer at Palo Alto Networks in Santa Clara, CA

Can you talk about Womxn in Technology at Champlain?

I started attending the Womxn in Tech club in my first couple of weeks here at Champlain, and it was a really welcoming community. I wanted to grow that community, and I think we’ve done that. There’s a big gender gap in the tech field, and I want to improve that by reaching out to younger people and making the community more welcoming to women, people of color, and non-binary folks. We’ve increased attendance and are getting more women and young girls involved in Cybersecurity, which is really important to me.

You’re involved with Techdren, right?

I’m part of the technical team for Techdren, a nonprofit started by Champlain students a few years ago that is centered around empowering women and giving students access to technology around the world. I’ve been helping to repair laptops we’ve received through donations, and installing educational software that tailors to whatever community we’re giving them to. This past January, I went on a trip to Zanzibar to deliver the laptops to schools and teach the students and teachers how to use them. It was a great and humbling experience, getting to see first-hand how technology can impact their lives and hopefully their future career prospects.

What off-campus internships have you had?

For my first internship, I worked at a pharmaceutical company as a technical intern, which was a really great experience. At the end of my sophomore year, I already had two years of major-related classes under my belt, which is not the case for a lot of other schools. After that, I interned at a cybersecurity company in California doing work on their firewalls. That actually turned into a full time position, so I’ll be working there as an Associate Systems Engineer after graduation.

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