Hello World.
Welcome to Learning Logs by Angela!
For literal decades, I’ve talked about starting a blog! But every time, the same doubts would creep in:
“I don’t love writing!”
“I need a dozen posts ready before I publish the first one.”
“I don’t know if I want to learn in public: it’s hard, sometimes embarrassing, and a lot of work!”
But here I am — ignoring all of that and hitting publish anyway.
Why Now?
Because I need a place to dump all the cool (and confusing) stuff I’m learning.
Because future-me is absolutely going to forget half the clever solutions I fought to figure out — and I’ll thank past-me for writing it down.
Because if I’m going to stumble through this, I might as well do it loudly enough that someone else might find value in the chaos.
So what exactly is a learning log?
Think of it like a digital learning journal. A learning log, in education-speak, is a tool for reflection — a way to document not just what you’re learning, but how you’re learning and what it all means.
In my case, it’ll focus on cybersecurity and data work. I plan to share:
Write-ups from hands-on practice (like on cyberdefenders.org)
Notes and resources I’ve found helpful
Big-picture reflections about working with data and building teams
Okay… but how did I get here?
A few years ago, I felt isolated in my data job — doing meaningful work, but not really connected to a larger community. So I logged back into an old Twitter account and started following data folks to see how others approached their work. I found a handful of voices that resonated: @beeonaposy, @clairebcarroll, @SParsonsDataViz, @tayloramurphy, @OscarBaruffa, @Randy_Au, @CMastication, @sethrosen, @LittleMissData, and @erikapullum — people who shared thoughtful insights, relateable experiences, and hilarious data shitposts. It made me feel a little less alone in my work.
Then I took on a new role — still in data, but now inside the security world. Naturally, I turned back to Twitter to see who was talking cybersecurity. That’s when I started seeing mentions of something called TryHackMe — an interactive platform where you learn to ethically hack into machines. I was intrigued.
I’ve always loved tinkering with computers and figuring out clever workarounds. Fun fact: I actually got into several computer science and programming programs after high school. But instead of taking that path, I chose one that let me travel — five weeks in Montreal, five in Spain, and a semester on a tiny French island. I completed a Bachelor of Arts in French Literature as a Second Language with a minor in Spanish. I can understand why companies may be inclined to put educational requirements on job posters, but even if I could, I would never trade these experiences for a “more qualified” IT degree (why yes, that picture below is of my friends and I with water guns full of wine at a festival in Spain)! Ironically, having a French degree actually helped me get into my data career!
In April 2021, I signed up for TryHackMe. I barely even understood enough to set myself up and connect to the website with OpenVPN! All the terminology was completely new to me, and honestly I was a little nervous at first! Was I seriously going to connect to a site with “hack” in the name through this OpenVPN thing, whatever that was?
I muddled my way through and with help from the amazing Twitter and Discord communities, I got set up.
I was instantly hooked!!
TryHackMe was teaching me so much; although, it was only the start of my journey! From there, I started:
Attneding virtual InfoSec conferences
Reading books and blogs
Listening to cybersecurity podcasts
Completing courses and Capture the Flag (CTF) challenges
Meeting so many smart, generous, and helpful people
A milestone: my first certification
After 9 months of learning — from command line basics to networking and IP routing and the methodology for conducting a pentest — I decided to finally go for my first certification: the eLearnSecurity Junior Penetration Tester (eJPT). It’s a 3 day practical exam, and I passed! For someone who had zero background in this stuff less than a year before, it felt like a massive win!
So… What’s next?
Even though the eJPT focuses on offensive security (aka hacking into systems), I’ve realized that what really fascinates me is defensive cybersecurity. That means working on the side of protecting systems, analyzing alerts, and detecting threats before they cause damage.
Right now, roles like (Threat) Detection Engineer are starting to catch my eye. I’m not actively job hunting — I genuinely enjoy my current role — but I want to be ready if and when the right opportunity comes along.
Lately, I’ve been diving into platforms like CyberDefenders, which align more with the defensive side of security. I’m always on the lookout for more learning tools, so if you have any favorites, please send them my way!
Wow, you made it to the end of my first post - thanks for checking it out!
I’m excited to share this journey!
Have any suggestions or cool cybersecurity resources? I’d love to hear from you! Comment below or reach out on Twitter @T1nk3r3ll4!
- March 2022