WEBVTT 00:07.000 --> 00:11.500 My work experience was able to make me an excellent instructor here at CIAT. 00:11.650 --> 00:19.500 I'm able to take my day to day job duties and correlate that to the assignments we do in class, 00:19.650 --> 00:25.500 and that students can see in real world how what they're learning, they can apply once they get to the workforce. 00:25.650 --> 00:31.350 I currently work for a defense contractor where I've had the opportunity to work on commercial projects, 00:31.500 --> 00:34.250 defense projects, as well as even internal. 00:34.350 --> 00:38.650 I really have a passion for making things work in solving problems, and cybersecurity is much the same. 00:38.650 --> 00:43.750 About ten years in industry, 16 years in the Marine Corps with an experience in education 00:43.850 --> 00:46.500 brings me in, you know, 26 years of what I do today. 00:46.650 --> 00:52.650 Throughout my career, I have been so thrilled that I've had so much mentorship, and the only thing 00:52.750 --> 00:55.650 I ever wanted to do was pass that on to the students. 00:55.700 --> 01:00.250 A lot of the students, you know, ask me, like, Randy, how do I break into the industry? 01:00.500 --> 01:06.800 And I let them know, hey, if you're not earning you're learning, get an IT job, 01:06.950 --> 01:11.250 get into the industry and understand IT, right, because IT security is cybersecurity. 01:11.500 --> 01:15.750 So by me working in industry I can bridge that gap between that that neophyte, 01:15.850 --> 01:20.000 that student wanting to get into industry and remembering that I was once that student. 01:20.100 --> 01:29.250 I got into the health care field, I did a lot of data tracking, such as dashboards and data analytics and 01:29.350 --> 01:34.000 and sharing my, results to leadership. So it just ended up expanding even more 01:34.250 --> 01:38.500 being able to teach that in the course, it's my passion. 01:38.650 --> 01:44.350 The way that students can make the most out of their experience here at CIAT is constant communication with their instructor. 01:44.450 --> 01:50.500 If they have questions, reach out to your instructor right away. We're here to help them succeed at the end of the day. 01:50.650 --> 01:54.750 But I definitely like to keep the lines of communication open for our students, no matter what. 01:54.850 --> 02:00.100 Every class I have, there's even a little bit of mentorship that every student gets, especially if they put the effort in. 02:00.150 --> 02:04.150 All you have to do is show up to class. I'm always offering help. 02:04.250 --> 02:07.600 I'm always a mentor. Even after the class goes on, I always offer that as well. 02:07.750 --> 02:10.750 It's an honor to get to bridge that gap, to say I'm working industry, but also 02:10.850 --> 02:17.500 to bring you up and help you and mentor you other than just being their instructor, I'm also their mentor to help them get into industry. 02:17.650 --> 02:25.000 The difference between CIAT and other traditional four year colleges, I feel like with CIAT it's more personalized. 02:25.100 --> 02:29.650 Working with small groups, getting to know the students one on one. 02:29.750 --> 02:37.500 I feel like there's more of a stronger connection to build that passion with them, to build that eagerness and motivation to learn. 02:37.650 --> 02:42.650 What really helped me to mold my career was being able to see others doing theirs, 02:42.750 --> 02:48.250 and model and understand the day to day is the pros and cons and all these different things 02:48.350 --> 02:50.250 and that's what CIAT allows us to do.