“I think studying with Cisco Networking Academy was the best choice.”
Yunbin started university as an architecture major, but seeing news about IT security made her change her mind.
“When I think about it now, I had a longing to be a hacker. I think it was fascinating to be able to handle computers freely and use them professionally,” she says. “But you can't be a criminal, right? So I was more drawn into cybersecurity.”
Still, the decision to start studying technology wasn’t straightforward.
“Since IT is so broad and interrelated, it was very difficult to know where to start and what to study first,” she says. “I thought Cisco Networking Academy would be of great help. Overall, there was basic network-related content, and it included a lot of content necessary to establish a strong foundation.”
An affinity with the coursework
Yunbin found Cisco Networking Academy courses to be well-suited to her learning requirements. “It's divided into chapters and broken down, so it was helpful for me to understand what I was studying. Also, each chapter wasn't long, so I didn't get bored, and the study itself was enjoyable. One of the most appealing things was the Cisco Packet Tracer activities with a variety of questions which meant I could review what I had studied.”
Placed first in Korea
Yunbin put her study to good use by entering the Cisco Networking Academy Korea Competition. The competition tests participants’ knowledge of CCNA, tested in theory and labs, and is based on the CCNA certification exam. Yunbin was one of only three women of the 50 participants, and placed first overall.
“I mainly prepared the theory but I think I studied all the CCNA content offered by Cisco Networking Academy. I think that helped a lot,” she says. “Also, in terms of practical skills, having tried and learned a lot of protocols at the CCNA level beforehand proved to be very helpful. I've been thinking a lot about how to apply commands and how to build the entire infrastructure.”
“If there is one thing I’d do differently, it would have been to practice a little more before the Competition, then I think I would have shown a higher level of perfection.”
Joining the IT workforce
Yunbin’s achievements have landed her a role as systems engineer (SE) with a firewall-related security company. “I’m a new SE still learning basic tasks related to firewalls. After that, I think I'll gradually learn about cloud firewalls,” she says.
“The firewall I'm dealing with covers the TCP/IP 7 layer as a whole, so there doesn't seem to be anything that isn't helpful. There is quite a bit of content related to VPNs, threat information, and URL information. Cisco Networking Academy covers a lot of core content required for my role. Also, there were a lot of things related to additional features. I think studying with Cisco Networking Academy was the best choice.”
Continual learning
Yunbin is also continuing with her education, majoring in Information and Communication Security. “Based on what I've learned, I want to learn more,” she says. “I want to study CCNP and CCIE next, so I can have a view of the entire network. I also plan to continue to study in the field of security in the future because it's a field where so much progress has been made and so many new things are being created.”
And for prospective students she has some helpful advice. “When studying, I think the quickest way to gain knowledge is through practice. Even if it takes a few hours or days, I recommend you try it yourself. The process of failure is also important, but troubleshooting to fix it is also very important. The process of seeing what errors you have made while solving problems is very frustrating, but I think it's a way to grow.”
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