Louise Shipcott spent over a decade working in finance before deciding to pursue a different path and appied to study BSc (Hons) Cyber Security.
“If you told me a few years ago that I’d be standing here today, with a Cyber Security degree, I’d have laughed from my desk and carried on explaining mortgage rates and chasing paperwork,” the 37-year-old from Weston Coyney said.
“For many years I knew I wanted to do something different. Something I was genuinely interested in. So, I made the decision to leave a good stable career and jump into the unknown.”
Students on the course have the opportunity to complete a 12-month work placement in industry, gaining valuable experience and putting their skills into action solving real problems.
Placement providers have included MI5 and government security agencies, police forces, the NHS, Airbus, Bet365, Cisco, Juniper, AWS and Microsoft. Louise completed her placement with quantitative research and technology firm G-Research.
“One of the most transformative experiences was my placement year. I packed up and moved to London – which if you know me, you’ll know that was a big deal,” Louise explained. “That year ended up leading to a new job, a new home and I’m glad that for one year at least I wasn’t afraid to take a risk.”
Having gained a fist class degree, Louise is now working as a Cyber Security First Response Analyst at the company.
Louise reflected on her journey in a speech delivered to hundreds of fellow graduates and guests at her graduation ceremony held at University of Staffordshire’s Catalyst building.
“I’ve made some amazing friendships on this journey, some who graduated last year and are already doing brilliantly. I would also like to give a huge thank you to my family and my partner who supported me through everything.
“Two lecturers in particular made a real difference to me. Chris Howard, who was always there for a chat and a bit of wisdom, and Fiona Knight, who thought she’d gotten rid of me when I chose Cyber over Computer Science … but I came running back to her for my dissertation.”
Her advice to others is not to be afraid to try something new: “As a mature student, I was nervous. I worried that I’d feel out of place, surrounded by people a lot younger than me. I worried I’d forgotten how to study, or if my brain even still had enough space to learn programming alongside interest rates. But from the start, University of Staffordshire made me feel welcome. I found a new path and didn’t look back.”
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