Animation grad building a path to GRC Analyst — one cert and one diagram at a time.

I spent four years in art school teaching myself to make complex ideas land with people who don't share your vocabulary. Turns out, that's exactly what cybersecurity needs.

The moment I knew this field was it: I was designing the visual identity for my dad's cybersecurity training initiative — logos, mascots, the whole brand. To do the work right, I had to understand what I was designing for — red teams, blue teams, purple teaming. So I read everything. And somewhere in that research, something clicked.

The skill I had spent four years building — translating technical complexity into something a non-expert can feel, not just understand — is the core skill of GRC. I wasn't changing directions. I was pointing my existing skills at a new problem.

I'm now a Cybersecurity Intern at Tysons Institute, working through their SOC Tier I Certificate program and getting real exposure to security operations every day. I hold my Google Cybersecurity Certificate and I'm actively studying for CompTIA Security+, targeting July 2026. I write a blog called Cyber Nerd Surf, where I document what I'm learning each week — because explaining something in writing is the best test I know for whether I actually understand it.

I'm a tactile learner. My favorite study moment so far was physically dissecting a Dell Optiplex — pulling out every component and touching the hardware I'd only ever seen in textbook diagrams. That's how I learn: hands in it.

My target role is GRC Analyst in the Northern Virginia / DC area. If you're building a team that needs someone who can translate technical risk into language executives and auditors can act on — let's talk.