Abigail Douglas ’18, scheduled to graduate in December, is a computer science major and computer information systems minor student from Madison, Neb. who recently accepted a web authentication engineer internship from Morgan Stanley in New York City. In addition, she was one of nine to receive a diversity scholarship for $15k.
Q. What piqued your interest in cyber security?
A. Originally, I was going to be a history major but I felt that technology would be better suited for me. I tried my first program in the community college back in Nebraska and I fell in love with it. It sparked my interest that I could build something on the computer and it would actually work.
Q. What factors helped you obtain your internship? Did you use Saint Peter’s resources?
A. Transferring to Saint Peter’s University gave me plenty of opportunities I wouldn’t have gotten if I had stayed back in my home state.
Last semester, I completed a virtual internship with cyber security. The topic of the internship was espionage and we worked with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to try to solve the mystery of who stole the data. We used NIST framework to solve the problem. Through the program, cyber security mentors gave us feedback on our work. Morgan Stanley wound up showing interest in my virtual internship.
I am confident I will be able to make a lasting impression at Morgan Stanley due to the knowledge I gained from the instructors at Saint Peter’s and the co-op opportunity I had last semester at UPS. Although juggling a part time job and a co-op along with a full curriculum was hectic, it helped me immensely in applying academic concepts in a corporate setting. It was a great learning and nurturing environment. I believe that with everything I learned during my time there, I will be able to achieve success at Morgan Stanley.
Q. What was the process like applying for your internship?
A. I applied to a lot of different companies. I applied to Morgan Stanley and did not hear back, so I figured they “ghosted” me. Then I was selected for a final interview. It was one single 45-minute interview at the Wall Street location. There were a bunch of other students there and a lot of them from Ivy League institutions so it was intimidating.
The Center for Career Engagement and Experiential Learning (CEEL) was so helpful and a great employment opportunity resource. Every student should utilize CEEL as much as they can. They helped me secure interviews with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Fidelity Investments after I attended on-site information sessions. In addition, the faculty and staff are amazing people to seek advice from as they want to help students prosper in their careers. I reach out to them whenever I have a question or need help in anything job related!
Q. Tell me a little more about your white paper.
A. The paper was about cloud computing. It researched different types of clouds that enterprises could migrate into if they were deciding to go into the cloud. The paper gave recommendations about the different types of clouds and which one would be the best and had information about the different cloud policies and regulations.
Q. Tell me about your experience with the cyber security “boot camps.”
A. I was trying to learn more about cyber security so I attended the cyber security boot camps with cyber security graduate students who gave hands-on examples of technologies that we could do. For example, they showed us software and allowed us to practice. In one boot camp, we learned how to use Splunk, which is an online program and at my interview, Morgan Stanley was intrigued that I knew how to use Splunk. My mentor there uses the program every day.
Q. What motivates you?
A. What motivates me is I want to make my mother proud. She is a big part of my life and she has sacrificed everything for my sister and I to have a better life; I want her to know that the struggle she has been through is worth it.
Q. Do you have a mentor here?
A. Ed Moskal, M.M.S., associate professor of computer & information sciences and director of the M.S. in cyber security, has been great. He answers all my questions. He is knowledgeable and when I tell him I want to learn more, he points me in the right direction. He pushed me to pursue the internship at JP Morgan, which led to the position at Morgan Stanley. He trusts me and believes in me and that’s a great feeling.
Q. What advice do you have for current students?
A. Be very excited because computer science can change your life. We are surrounded by technology every day and it’s amazing to think that you could potentially be able to work on something that might be beneficial to others. It is also a great idea to explore technologies and programming languages outside of academics to gain a better understanding as to where you see yourself. The computer science discipline has many different sections that you can go into like AI or data science. Also, you don’t have to be tech savvy because you can learn as you go.
Q. What are your aspirations for the future?
A. I see myself working at a great company that embodies the values Saint Peter’s embodies as well as the ones I grew up learning. I would like to have work-life balance and be able to contribute to an organization in a meaningful way. Apart from my professional aspirations, I had always imagined myself teaching an adult education class about programming in the future, to help the technically challenged fathers and mothers, just like mine.
Q. Any final thoughts?
A. I am the first in my family to graduate college. It is a huge opportunity. Coming from a small town, it feels like I “made it.”
To learn more about programs in Cyber Security, click here.