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.

When “born and bred” Texan, Debbie Gomez, went from being a full-time mom of three kids to being a scholar at Collin County Group School, you could possibly be forgiven for pondering it was a possibility to decelerate a bit of.  

Apparently, that’s not in Debbie’s DNA—getting concerned and serving to individuals is. Whilst a faculty scholar, Debbie spent summers in Mexico studying Spanish from the native kids and educating them English in return. It shouldn’t be a shock that when she enrolled in school, 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 specialists. “I’m not in search of a job, I’m in search of a profession,” she says. “When 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 major to pc networking.” 

Assembly extra ladies in IT 

“I attended Ladies Rock-IT in my first semester, I met quite a lot of ladies within the trade, and one factor I actually liked is that they get to journey and work. I need to have the ability to have that chance,” she says. 

One other massive a part of the attraction to networking—and the Academy Program—was the hands-on expertise on supply.  

Cybersecurity at Collin 

“Cybersecurity at Collin is extra theoretical, and I used to be in search of extra technical,” she says. “When I used to be in a position to mess around with the switches, find out how to patch cables, all of that acquired my consideration…and there’s quite a lot of safety concerned in pc networking as effectively, it’s virtually 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 faculty to increase the Bachelor’s program to incorporate pc networking. She’s hoping the faculty makes the change, despite the fact that it will occur after she’s already accomplished her research. “It could 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 quite a lot of individuals had earlier expertise that she lacked. “Almost 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, making an attempt 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 house,” 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 worked or not, I simply wanted to interrupt it aside.”  

“I had an enormous response, there’s quite a lot of IT professionals who gave me switches, routers, wi-fi entry factors, quite a lot of stuff,” she says. 

Membership collaboration at Collin

Patrick Evans, Self-discipline Lead – Pc Networking Program, Collin County Group School, says the response was in all probability so massive as a result of the Dallas space is a tech hub, housing quite a few acquainted tech companies, and even an enormous Cisco Buyer Expertise Middle on the identical highway as one of many Collin School campuses. 

Beginning in with the gear in her storage, Debbie invited classmates to return over and collaborate, and, with the encouragement of Professor Evans, finally fashioned the Pc Science and Engineering Membership.  

The membership provides a platform for mentorship and networking and is extra standard than Debbie may have imagined. “I’ve by no means led a membership earlier than, we began very small, it was similar to 5 members,” she says. With greater than 200 present members, “we’re the most important 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, finding out, working the membership, and a few internships weren’t sufficient, Debbie was additionally a part of the Dream Group at Cisco Dwell 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 keep the community on the occasion.  

“It was superior to study from the community engineers,” she says. “I’m so glad that Professor Evans taught me find out how to patch cables…it got here in helpful, as a result of the opposite Dream Teamers had by no means accomplished that earlier than. So I ended up exhibiting them find out how to put an RG45 on a cable!” 

“It was wonderful,” she says. “It was top-of-the-line instances of my life. It was assembly lots of people, assembly quite a 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 present self-studying for the DevNet certification. DevNet is a requirement to finish in the course of 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 getting 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 massive or go house!” 

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Discover extra inspiring success tales at netacad.com/careers/success-stories.

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