Trent Bickford is a senior studying Cyber Security Engineering at Iowa State University. He has had an interest in computers since childhood and how systems function internally. At Iowa State, he found that cyber security allowed him to satisfy his curiosity about systems while also using this knowledge to help people. As a senior, he has gained valuable skills through projects and classes that have prepared him for his career. He is uncertain of his exact future path but is confident that he can continue learning as he has at Iowa State.
Trent Bickford is a senior studying Cyber Security Engineering at Iowa State University. He has had an interest in computers since childhood and how systems function internally. At Iowa State, he found that cyber security allowed him to satisfy his curiosity about systems while also using this knowledge to help people. As a senior, he has gained valuable skills through projects and classes that have prepared him for his career. He is uncertain of his exact future path but is confident that he can continue learning as he has at Iowa State.
Trent Bickford is a senior studying Cyber Security Engineering at Iowa State University. He has had an interest in computers since childhood and how systems function internally. At Iowa State, he found that cyber security allowed him to satisfy his curiosity about systems while also using this knowledge to help people. As a senior, he has gained valuable skills through projects and classes that have prepared him for his career. He is uncertain of his exact future path but is confident that he can continue learning as he has at Iowa State.
Trent Bickford is a senior studying Cyber Security Engineering at Iowa State University. He has had an interest in computers since childhood and how systems function internally. At Iowa State, he found that cyber security allowed him to satisfy his curiosity about systems while also using this knowledge to help people. As a senior, he has gained valuable skills through projects and classes that have prepared him for his career. He is uncertain of his exact future path but is confident that he can continue learning as he has at Iowa State.
My name is Trent Bickford, I am currently a senior in Cyber Security Engineering at
Iowa State University. Throughout my lifetime thus far, I’ve always had an interest in computers
and more specifically looking into the inner workings of systems and figuring out how they
function. As I was going through schooling this interest never changed, I was surrounded by
computers and people with similar interests. Which led me here to Iowa State University, which I
heard had fantastic facilities and resources for people.
Originally, I believed that I wanted to go for something relating to software engineering,
however that was quickly tossed aside when I first started experimenting with programming. It
was interesting, my love for knowing the internal workings of things was satisfied, but I didn’t
find it very fulfilling or fun. I then settled by going into Cyber Security Engineering. It fulfilled
my want to know more about systems as it delves into Computer Engineering quite a bit, but it
also gave me an avenue to use this knowledge to help people.
As time went on at Iowa State, I solidified my liking for cyber security and through the
broad cyber program, I found more things I'm interested in such as network security, or computer
security architecture. Classes like Cyb E 231 really helped me explore and utilize the knowledge
I’ve gained through the previous years.
Now that I am a senior, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to utilize the skills that have been
taught to me thus far. The most recent example is my senior design project. Over the semesters
it's been constantly drilled into me how to function and work as a team and communicate. I
found that senior design encapsulates the importance of that skill perfectly. Without the
engineering program, I wouldn’t have been able to effectively navigate through this class in
order to make the project as great as it is.
Getting to the point of being able to call myself an engineer wasn’t an easy road however.
I had to change the way I think more times than I can count. One example of this is learning how
to study. Throughout high school I never had to try much, the classes were pretty easy in
comparison to college and so I never had to think about school outside of homework due dates.
That changed significantly when going to college classes however, I found there wasn’t any time
for introductions, the professors just assumed you knew the base level and jumped straight into
the content for the class. To me this meant I had to step up my game and make sure that I was up
to date on critical information, so I studied and studied until I was caught up. Luckily this habit
found its way into preparing for tests.
Another helpful way I’ve learned at Iowa State is through my peers. Since most cyber
majors have a similar I was able to consistently have the same classmates, I ended up making
friends with a few of them and we were able to lean on each other which allowed me to patch my
own pitfalls. Explaining topics to peers also helps me deepen my understanding of topics I know
a lot about already.
I was lucky enough to find a job at Iowa State University as a computer technician. This
experience has further improved my competence in computer systems, my peers helped me and
taught me topics that my classes didn’t have time to cover. Topics like script writing, self-hosting
servers, and various other computer topics.
Looking back, I learned a lot about myself through my journey at Iowa State University.
Courses I’ve taken, especially the challenging ones, have been fun and exciting to explore my
limits and break beyond them. I have met a lot of people, professors and friends, that have been
extremely helpful and understanding of any questions or issues I had. As I continue into the future, I’m uncertain of my exact path, but similar to my time at Iowa State University, I know I
can always take my time and figure it out for myself.
