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action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/mother99/jacksonholdingcompany.com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114In Latin Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate all of our students and alums from these communities who have joined ours, through Cisco Networking Academy\u2019s IT skills-to-jobs program. Debbie Gomez is\u2026 Read more on Cisco Blogs<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u200b<\/p>\n In Latin Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate all of our students and alums from these communities who have joined ours, through Cisco Networking Academy\u2019s IT skills-to-jobs program. Debbie Gomez is one super-inspired individual who is sharing her passion for technology in her communities. As Founder of Networking Academy\u2019s Women Rock-IT<\/a> Program, I take great pleasure in sharing the impact of this program with people like Debbie and the onflow impact they have in their communities. <\/em><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n When \u201cborn and bred\u201d Texan, Debbie Gomez, went from being a full-time mother of three children to being a student at Collin County Community College, you could be forgiven for thinking it was an opportunity to slow down a little. \u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Apparently, that\u2019s not in Debbie\u2019s DNA\u2014getting involved and helping people is. Even as a school student, Debbie spent summers in Mexico learning Spanish from the local children and teaching them English in return. It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that when she enrolled in college, she would go all-in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n IT was Debbie\u2019s first choice, because she had seen news stories about the demand for cybersecurity experts. \u201cI\u2019m not looking for a job, I\u2019m looking for a career,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I enrolled at Collin College I started as a cybersecurity major, but after taking some NetAcad classes I realized that I\u2019m really fond of the blinking lights\u2014the routers and the switches\u2014so much so that I changed my major to computer networking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cI attended Women Rock-IT<\/a> in my first semester, I met a lot of women in the industry, and one thing I really loved is that they get to travel and work. I want to be able to have that opportunity,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Another big part of the attraction to networking\u2014and the Academy Program\u2014was the hands-on experience on offer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cCybersecurity at Collin is more theoretical, and I was looking for more technical,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I was able to play around with the switches, how to patch cables, all of that got my attention\u2026and there\u2019s a lot of security involved in computer networking as well, it\u2019s almost like the gatekeeper, so that\u2019s what I really enjoyed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Debbie says she\u2019s not alone in switching from the four-year Cybersecurity Bachelor\u2019s Degree course at Collin to the two-year Computer Networking Associate\u2019s Degree, and has even petitioned the college to expand the Bachelor\u2019s program to include computer networking. She\u2019s hoping the college makes the change, even though it would happen after she\u2019s already completed her studies. \u201cIt would be my legacy,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be her only legacy at Collin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n When Debbie first started IT Essentials, she realized a lot of participants had previous experience that she lacked. \u201cAlmost everybody that starts in tech has some type of background in technology,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019d probably built a computer. I had not. I\u2019d never opened a computer before. So, trying to keep up with the pace of the class, and wanting to spend more time on the equipment, I decided I needed something to play around with at home,\u201d she says. She put a notification in her neighborhood app asking whether anyone had any equipment to donate. \u201cI didn\u2019t care if it worked or not, I just needed to break it apart.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cI had a huge response, there\u2019s a lot of IT professionals who gave me switches, routers, wireless access points, a lot of stuff,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Patrick Evans, Discipline Lead \u2013 Computer Networking Program, Collin County Community College, says the response was probably so big because the Dallas area is a tech hub, housing numerous familiar tech businesses, and even a big Cisco Customer Experience Center on the same road as one of the Collin College campuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Starting in with the equipment in her garage, Debbie invited classmates to come over and collaborate, and, with the encouragement of Professor Evans, eventually formed the Computer Science and Engineering Club.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The club offers a platform for mentorship and networking and is more popular than Debbie could have imagined. \u201cI\u2019ve never led a club before, we started very small, it was just like five members,\u201d she says. With more than 200 current members, \u201cwe\u2019re the biggest club right now in the IT center\u2014we keep growing!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n If continuing to look after her family, studying, running the club, and a couple of internships weren\u2019t enough, Debbie was also part of the Dream Team<\/a> at Cisco Live in Las Vegas in June 2023.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The Dream Team consists of five Networking Academy students who are selected from across the Americas, to work alongside Cisco engineers to help set up and maintain the network at the event.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was awesome to learn from the network engineers,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m so glad that Professor Evans taught me how to patch cables\u2026it came in handy, because the other Dream Teamers had never done that before. So I ended up showing them how to put an RG45 on a cable!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cIt was amazing,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was one of the best times of my life. It was meeting a lot of people, meeting a lot of Cisco executives, learning from them, helping set up the network\u2026it was very exhausting, but it was totally worth it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n As though Debbie weren\u2019t engaged enough, she has also completed the pre-apprenticeship phase of the Cisco CX Apprenticeship Program<\/a>.\u00a0 She achieved the required CCNA certification<\/a> and is currently self-studying for the DevNet certification. DevNet is a requirement to complete during the second part, which is six months full-time paid work as a Technical Consulting Engineer within Cisco\u2019s Customer Experience organization. \u201cMy dream career is to work for Cisco,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n In the meantime, she\u2019s preparing to take CCNP, her final class at Collin College before graduation in the Spring of 2024.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n If the sheer number of activities Debbie has engaged in since returning to study seems overwhelming, she dismisses it breezily: \u201cI\u2019m from Texas,\u201d she says, \u201cgo big or go home!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Explore more inspiring success stories at\u00a0netacad.com\/careers\/success-stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0In Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate all of our Hispanic students and alums of Cisco Networking Academy’s IT skills-to-jobs program. Debbie Gomez is one super-inspired individual who is sharing her passion for technology in her communities.\u00a0\u00a0Read More<\/a>\u00a0Cisco Blogs\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <\/p>\n In Latin Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate all of our students and alums from these communities who have joined ours, through Cisco Networking Academy\u2019s IT skills-to-jobs program. Debbie Gomez is\u2026 Read more on Cisco Blogs<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u200b<\/p>\n In Latin Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate all of our students and alums from these communities who have joined ours, through Cisco Networking Academy\u2019s IT skills-to-jobs program. Debbie Gomez is one super-inspired individual who is sharing her passion for technology in her communities. As Founder of Networking Academy\u2019s Women Rock-IT<\/a> Program, I take great pleasure in sharing the impact of this program with people like Debbie and the onflow impact they have in their communities. <\/em><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n When \u201cborn and bred\u201d Texan, Debbie Gomez, went from being a full-time mother of three children to being a student at Collin County Community College, you could be forgiven for thinking it was an opportunity to slow down a little. \u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Apparently, that\u2019s not in Debbie\u2019s DNA\u2014getting involved and helping people is. Even as a school student, Debbie spent summers in Mexico learning Spanish from the local children and teaching them English in return. It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that when she enrolled in college, she would go all-in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n IT was Debbie\u2019s first choice, because she had seen news stories about the demand for cybersecurity experts. \u201cI\u2019m not looking for a job, I\u2019m looking for a career,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I enrolled at Collin College I started as a cybersecurity major, but after taking some NetAcad classes I realized that I\u2019m really fond of the blinking lights\u2014the routers and the switches\u2014so much so that I changed my major to computer networking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cI attended Women Rock-IT<\/a> in my first semester, I met a lot of women in the industry, and one thing I really loved is that they get to travel and work. I want to be able to have that opportunity,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Another big part of the attraction to networking\u2014and the Academy Program\u2014was the hands-on experience on offer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cCybersecurity at Collin is more theoretical, and I was looking for more technical,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I was able to play around with the switches, how to patch cables, all of that got my attention\u2026and there\u2019s a lot of security involved in computer networking as well, it\u2019s almost like the gatekeeper, so that\u2019s what I really enjoyed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Debbie says she\u2019s not alone in switching from the four-year Cybersecurity Bachelor\u2019s Degree course at Collin to the two-year Computer Networking Associate\u2019s Degree, and has even petitioned the college to expand the Bachelor\u2019s program to include computer networking. She\u2019s hoping the college makes the change, even though it would happen after she\u2019s already completed her studies. \u201cIt would be my legacy,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be her only legacy at Collin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n When Debbie first started IT Essentials, she realized a lot of participants had previous experience that she lacked. \u201cAlmost everybody that starts in tech has some type of background in technology,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019d probably built a computer. I had not. I\u2019d never opened a computer before. So, trying to keep up with the pace of the class, and wanting to spend more time on the equipment, I decided I needed something to play around with at home,\u201d she says. She put a notification in her neighborhood app asking whether anyone had any equipment to donate. \u201cI didn\u2019t care if it worked or not, I just needed to break it apart.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cI had a huge response, there\u2019s a lot of IT professionals who gave me switches, routers, wireless access points, a lot of stuff,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Patrick Evans, Discipline Lead \u2013 Computer Networking Program, Collin County Community College, says the response was probably so big because the Dallas area is a tech hub, housing numerous familiar tech businesses, and even a big Cisco Customer Experience Center on the same road as one of the Collin College campuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Starting in with the equipment in her garage, Debbie invited classmates to come over and collaborate, and, with the encouragement of Professor Evans, eventually formed the Computer Science and Engineering Club.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The club offers a platform for mentorship and networking and is more popular than Debbie could have imagined. \u201cI\u2019ve never led a club before, we started very small, it was just like five members,\u201d she says. With more than 200 current members, \u201cwe\u2019re the biggest club right now in the IT center\u2014we keep growing!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n If continuing to look after her family, studying, running the club, and a couple of internships weren\u2019t enough, Debbie was also part of the Dream Team<\/a> at Cisco Live in Las Vegas in June 2023.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The Dream Team consists of five Networking Academy students who are selected from across the Americas, to work alongside Cisco engineers to help set up and maintain the network at the event.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was awesome to learn from the network engineers,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m so glad that Professor Evans taught me how to patch cables\u2026it came in handy, because the other Dream Teamers had never done that before. So I ended up showing them how to put an RG45 on a cable!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cIt was amazing,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was one of the best times of my life. It was meeting a lot of people, meeting a lot of Cisco executives, learning from them, helping set up the network\u2026it was very exhausting, but it was totally worth it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n As though Debbie weren\u2019t engaged enough, she has also completed the pre-apprenticeship phase of the Cisco CX Apprenticeship Program<\/a>.\u00a0 She achieved the required CCNA certification<\/a> and is currently self-studying for the DevNet certification. DevNet is a requirement to complete during the second part, which is six months full-time paid work as a Technical Consulting Engineer within Cisco\u2019s Customer Experience organization. \u201cMy dream career is to work for Cisco,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n In the meantime, she\u2019s preparing to take CCNP, her final class at Collin College before graduation in the Spring of 2024.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n If the sheer number of activities Debbie has engaged in since returning to study seems overwhelming, she dismisses it breezily: \u201cI\u2019m from Texas,\u201d she says, \u201cgo big or go home!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Explore more inspiring success stories at\u00a0netacad.com\/careers\/success-stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0In Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate all of our Hispanic students and alums of Cisco Networking Academy’s IT skills-to-jobs program. Debbie Gomez is one super-inspired individual who is sharing her passion for technology in her communities.\u00a0\u00a0Read More<\/a>\u00a0Cisco Blogs\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cisco-learning"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cI\u2019m not looking for a job, I\u2019m looking for a career.\u201d<\/h2>\n
IT was Debbie\u2019s first choice\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\nDebbie (right) meets Laura Quintana, VP & General Manager Cisco Networking Academy (left)<\/p>\nMeeting more women in IT\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Cybersecurity at Collin\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Networking with neighbors\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\n
\n<\/a>Debbie as mascot at club promotion to students<\/p>\nClub collaboration at Collin<\/h2>\n
Debbie makes the Networking Academy Dream Team\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\nAt Cisco Customer Experience Center, Richardson, Texas (Debbie second from right)<\/p>\nCertifications to secure the dream\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Ready to begin your learning journey? Explore all of our courses at the<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Cisco Networking Academy<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m not looking for a job, I\u2019m looking for a career.\u201d<\/h2>\n
IT was Debbie\u2019s first choice\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\nDebbie (right) meets Laura Quintana, VP & General Manager Cisco Networking Academy (left)<\/p>\nMeeting more women in IT\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Cybersecurity at Collin\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Networking with neighbors\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\n
\n<\/a>Debbie as mascot at club promotion to students<\/p>\nClub collaboration at Collin<\/h2>\n
Debbie makes the Networking Academy Dream Team\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\nAt Cisco Customer Experience Center, Richardson, Texas (Debbie second from right)<\/p>\nCertifications to secure the dream\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Ready to begin your learning journey? Explore all of our courses at the<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Cisco Networking Academy<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
<\/p>\n