- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/category/community/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:32:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Love is in the Air: 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Couple Gets Engaged at Fall 2022 Commencement /news-archive/2022/12/20/commencement-couple/ Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:32:03 +0000 /news/?p=84155 ... Love is in the Air: 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Couple Gets Engaged at Fall 2022 Commencement]]> Commencement is a time when new college graduates celebrate with their loved ones and look to the future as they start the next chapter of their lives. One 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock graduate celebrated another milestone in life by popping the question to his high school sweetheart and fellow 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student – who, of course, said yes! Tobaquious Howard, the graduate from Eudora, Arkansas, said he has been planning to propose to his fianc茅 Kenya Daniels, a senior finance major from McAlmont, for a whole year. 鈥淚 was talking to my friends at school, and I said that graduation would be a great place to propose because my family would be here and her family would be here, so it all worked out,鈥 he said. Howard invited many family members and high school and college friends to commencement to celebrate his graduation with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Associate of Arts in General Studies degrees. After the ceremony, the large group of family and friends gathered outside for a group picture, which is when Howard made his move. 鈥淚 told everyone to get in a group picture,鈥 he said. 鈥淪he was turned away from me, and I got on one knee so when she turned around she saw me proposing. Everybody knew except for her. We had it all planned out!鈥 Daniels was absolutely thrilled as she got to spend the moment surrounded by her family – her mom, dad, grandmother, sisters, and niece. 鈥淚 was shocked,鈥 Daniels said. 鈥淚 did not expect a lot of our family to be there. I was nervous and shocked and excited.鈥 The couple met during a football game at Jacksonville High School when Daniels was an eighth grader and Howard a freshman. Their love story blossomed during high school to the point where they decided to attend the University of Arkansas at Little Rock together. 鈥淲e wanted to stay in Arkansas, and we had heard a lot of good things about 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock,鈥 Howard said. 鈥淚t was an easy decision for us to come to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.鈥 While the couple enjoyed attending college together, the one drawback was that they had to separate in order to study because 鈥渨e have completely different study habits,鈥 Daniels said. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 be around each other because we would distract each other,鈥 Howard added. Looking back, Daniels, who is a business student ambassador and Student Affairs Diversity Initiatives mentor, realizes there were hints – lots of family visiting, everyone dressing up, her family鈥檚 insistence that she get her nails done – that something special was going to happen on Saturday in addition to commencement. They celebrated Howard鈥檚 commencement and their engagement with a large dinner outing to Longhorn Steakhouse. Now that they are engaged, the couple said that they have recently moved into their first apartment and are looking forward to spending more time together now that Howard鈥檚 schooling is finished. While they haven鈥檛 set a date for their wedding yet, Daniels, who will graduate from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in May, said she 鈥渨ould definitely like a fall or winter wedding for sure.鈥漖]> LULAC Honors Torres Sanchez as Student of the Year /news-archive/2022/12/20/lulac-honors-torres/ Tue, 20 Dec 2022 14:12:44 +0000 /news/?p=83958 ... LULAC Honors Torres Sanchez as Student of the Year]]> Torres Sanchez of Little Rock was honored during a Nov. 5 dinner celebrating the 17 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students who received LULAC scholarships for the 2022-2023 school year. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 expecting this award at all, but I am very grateful for it,鈥 Torres Sanchez said. 鈥淚 instantly went home after the banquet and told my parents that this award is for all of us. In my opinion, the reason I got the award is for all the support I received from my parents since I鈥檓 a first-generation student.鈥 Torres Sanchez said her parents, Jose Torres and Teresa Sanchez, couldn鈥檛 continue their education because they had to find work to support their families. However, they have always encouraged the importance of education to their children. 鈥淢y parents always tell me and my siblings that education comes first,鈥 Torres Sanchez said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 because of them that I鈥檝e pushed myself to be here.鈥
Kassandra Torres receives the 2022 LULAC Student of the Year Award.

Kassandra Torres Sanchez receives the 2022 LULAC Student of the Year Award.

Torres Sanchez has been a member of LULAC ever since she was a freshman at Little Rock Central High School. She serves as the youth council officer for LULAC Council 771, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 chapter, and has been working to start LULAC student organizations at high schools in Central Arkansas. Torres Sanchez was also among a group of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students who attended the LULAC National Convention this summer in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They were the first students from the university to attend the conference since 2016 and raised more than $11,000 for the trip, where they learned valuable skills in leadership, education, career preparation, and networking. In addition to LULAC, Torres Sanchez is also a member of Young Democrats and a volunteer with the Multicultural Center and the Hispanic/Latinx Initiative. After she graduates in spring 2024, Torres Sanchez plans to attend law school and later work at a nonprofit that provides immigrants with legal assistance.]]>
糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Completes Thesis on Content in German-Language Newspaper During WWI /news-archive/2022/12/19/harrison-mitchell-graduation/ Mon, 19 Dec 2022 16:00:44 +0000 /news/?p=84114 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Completes Thesis on Content in German-Language Newspaper During WWI]]> Little Rock native Harrison Mitchell earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in news editorial journalism from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in 2011. Now over a decade later, he graduated with a master鈥檚 degree in public history on Dec. 17. Mitchell鈥檚 thesis explores written content in , a German-language newspaper based in Little Rock during World War I. The Echo is the only surviving newspaper source about Arkansas鈥檚 German community, as well as the only insight into what the German press was printing during the war. Mitchell got his inspiration for the topic from the year he spent as a foreign exchange student in Vienna, Austria, in high school. 鈥淭hat experience really cemented the language for me,鈥 Mitchell said. 鈥淲ithout it, I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to do this research at all, since most of it was in German.鈥 Mitchell focused his research on the years between 1914 and 1918, comparing the tone and content before and after the United States entered the war to see how the newspaper handled the growing anti-German sentiment in the country during the shift. Research also came from, 鈥淒as Arkansas Echo: A Year in the Life of Germans in the Nineteenth-Century South鈥 by Kathleen Condray, associate professor of German at the University of Arkansas. The book examines the topics covered during its inaugural year, including the newspaper鈥檚 crusade against prohibition, advocacy for German schools and language, and stance on immigration. 鈥淥verall, I鈥檇 say the program prepares you for the field really well, especially when it comes to research,鈥 Mitchell said. 鈥淚 even had a graduate assistantship for the Center for Arkansas History and Culture downtown to supplement my archival learning and give me hands-on experience.鈥 He organized his information on a database, the idea of which he credits to Dr. Charles Romney, professor of history and graduate coordinator of the public history program. 鈥淚 collected about 300 articles, so it was a lot to keep track of,鈥 Mitchell said. 鈥淭he database gave me key searchability, helped me identify common themes, and what was going on. Staying organized is one of the most important parts of a research process.鈥漖]> Handcock Wins Phi Kappa Phi Essay Contest /news-archive/2022/12/19/handcock-phi-kappa-phi/ Mon, 19 Dec 2022 14:03:29 +0000 /news/?p=84091 ... Handcock Wins Phi Kappa Phi Essay Contest]]> Phi Kappa Phi, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, selected Handcock as the winner of its 1,000-word essay contest on the theme: Love of Learning in a Pandemic. 鈥淚 am so honored to receive this award so early in my graduate career,鈥 said Handcock, who is in her first semester of graduate school. 鈥淭he scholarship means a lot to me, and it will really help me as I pursue my master鈥檚 degree.鈥 Handcock, who works as a web content specialist in the Office of Communications and Marketing, plans to graduate in 2024 with a Master of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing degree. She is a first-generation college student who will be the first person in her family to earn a master鈥檚 degree. Handcock wrote about how the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged her to make important changes in her life. She had always dreamed of getting her master鈥檚 degree, so Handcock took a new and challenging position at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock where she can take advantage of the tuition discount for university employees. 鈥淐OVID helped me refocus and renew my love of learning,鈥 Handcock wrote. 鈥淚t helped me pause and see what was possible. COVID might have driven me to grad school but I鈥檓 now the one at the wheel.鈥漖]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Finishes College Education 50 Years After Starting /news-archive/2022/12/16/gene-thompson-graduation/ Fri, 16 Dec 2022 16:20:09 +0000 /news/?p=84110 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Finishes College Education 50 Years After Starting]]> By all measures, Ellis 鈥淕ene鈥 Thompson of Little Rock has led a very successful life. He has a loving family and had a very successful career in media sales spanning more than four decades. 鈥淎fter leaving KATV as the local sales manager here, I finished that career and was faced with what I want to do,鈥 Thompson said. 鈥淪omething that had always been nagging me was to get my degree. Life had taken that opportunity away from me earlier when I was in Washington, D.C.鈥 A native of Joliet, Illinois, Thompson joined the U.S. Navy and worked in an experimental surgery unit and then enrolled at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1973. 鈥淭here I really started to mature and find my sea legs, as you will,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he doctors were very supportive of me going to college. That is why I went to Georgetown, but I was married and had a child and work. I couldn鈥檛 sustain a decent lifestyle and go to Georgetown, which was very demanding.鈥 In 1975, Thompson left Georgetown with an associate degree and a strong desire to one day finish his college education. His career took him from Washington, D.C., to Chicago, to Dayton, Ohio, to Orlando and New York City. His final stop brought him to Little Rock in 2010 to work at KATV. 鈥淚 had a great run in TV, but I鈥檓 done,鈥 Thompson said. 鈥淚 had a deep love of history, and I got that while I was at Georgetown. One of my instructors was the department head, and I fell in love with history after taking her class. I decided to come to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock as a history major.鈥 Thompson joined 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in 2017 and graduated with his bachelor鈥檚 degree in history in 2019. He will graduate this semester with a master鈥檚 degree in public history, which brings his journey to complete his college education to an end 50 years after he started. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that I feel I should have done a long time ago,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 basically been unfinished business as far as my life is concerned. So, getting this degree is a culmination of a lifelong search for my own comfort with myself. It鈥檚 a culmination of something that I felt I should have done a long time ago and should have been determined earlier in my life. However, it feels just as good now. This is who I should have been all my life, a person with a master鈥檚 degree.鈥 One of his favorite experiences in graduate school was participating in a class taught by Dr. John Kirk, George W. Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History, which examined the criminal cases of Robert Bell and Grady Swain, two African American teenagers who were convicted of the first-degree murder of Julius McCollum and sentenced to death. Bell and Swain confessed to the crime, but later said their confessions were forced. The class wrote a paper about the case that received the Lucille Westbrook Award from the Arkansas Historical Association for the best article manuscript on an aspect of local history. 鈥淭hat class really grabbed me, and I learned so much about going through archives and dusty, old records,鈥 he said. Thompson wrote his thesis, 鈥淭he Fight for Freedmen鈥檚 Minds in Arkansas,鈥 about the development of educational programs for African Americans in the state in the 1860s and 1870s. 鈥淎rkansas was one of the last states to develop a public primary and secondary school system for African American students,鈥 Thompson wrote. 鈥淲hile education was for the most part privatized, an important philosophy for educating African Americans was developed early by the Free African Society and the AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church that influenced Arkansas public and private Freedman education.鈥 In the 1860s and 70s, there were millions of newly freed formerly enslaved people who needed an education with competing methods of how that should work. Samuel Armstrong, founder of the Hampton Institute, created an educational model called the Hampton-Tuskegee Model, which emphasized character building through manual labor and learning occupational skills. The AME church strongly contested the Hampton-Tuskegee Model. 鈥淭he AME church put forth the philosophy that they wanted Freedman taught in the classical manner, emphasizing subjects like English, literature, and algebra,鈥 Thompson said. 鈥淭hey wanted to train a middle-class population with doctors, teachers, and lawyers. The Hampton model emphasized teaching people manual labor skills 鈥 how to be a blacksmith, how to sew. They taught young girls how to work in houses as maids. It was being put out there that this was necessary because industrialists needed a large workforce.鈥 Thompson dedicated his thesis to his mother, who was the daughter of an AME preacher and an inspiration for him to complete college. 鈥淚 also did this for my mom who always believed in me when I didn鈥檛 believe in myself,鈥 Thompson said. 鈥淪he used to sit in the kitchen with me to do my homework when I was a child. She instilled in me that desire to get it done, and that was one of the real drivers in writing my thesis.鈥 With graduation approaching, Thompson is thankful to history professors James Ross, Barclay Key, Jess Porter, Edward Anson, Carl Moneyhon, and Marta Cieslak for inspiring him to succeed. 鈥淢y experience here has been absolutely magnificent,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 say enough good things about the history department and the professors. These people are first rate, and I know because I came from one of those fancy east schools. I had a very successful career, but this is something different that I needed to do and I鈥檓 so glad I did it. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I would end up living in Arkansas and getting a master鈥檚 degree at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. I believe it鈥檚 a top-rate education.鈥漖]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Student Nurses Association President Elected to State Office /news-archive/2022/12/16/student-nurses-association/ Fri, 16 Dec 2022 13:56:29 +0000 /news/?p=83990 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Student Nurses Association President Elected to State Office]]> The ANSA organizes, represents, and supports students in Arkansas preparing for initial licensure as registered nurses as well as baccalaureate students. They also promote development of the skills that students will need as responsible and accountable members of the nursing profession, advocate for high quality health care, advocate for and contribute to advances in nursing education, and develop the potential for maximal growth in future professional roles of Arkansas nursing students. Niki Buckman, a student from Quinlan, Texas, was elected as the District 1 director during the ANSA convention held in Hot Springs. She will represent and advocate for nursing students in Arkadelphia, Conway, Hot Springs, Little Rock, and Magnolia. She will also serve on the annual convention, fundraising, and awards committees. 鈥淚 am ecstatic to be able to serve on the ANSA Board of Directors,鈥 Buckman said. 鈥淚 look forward to working with everyone in District 1.鈥 Once she graduates in 2023 with an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing degree, Buckman will work for the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. She is a recipient of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Professional Scholarship Program, which provides financial assistance to students in the health care industry. She plans to join the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program in the fall 2023 semester. It鈥檚 been a lifelong goal of Buckman鈥檚 to become a nurse, one that got put on hold while she pursued a career in sales and marketing in the natural pet food industry in Colorado and California. She and her husband moved to Arkansas to be closer to family in 2020, and Buckman decided it was time to pursue her nursing degree. 鈥淣ursing was always my plan,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 have wanted to work in health care ever since I was little. My dad was sick when I was growing up. After seeing his experience in needing a liver transplant, I decided that I wanted to work in health care to help other people through their medical emergencies.鈥 At 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Buckman, a home health care aide, serves as president of the Student Nurses Association and a volunteer with Kindred Hospice.]]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Encourages More Women to Enter the Construction Industry /news-archive/2022/12/14/gozde-gursoy-graduation/ Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:12:06 +0000 /news/?p=84098 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Encourages More Women to Enter the Construction Industry]]> Gozde Gursoy, a native of Izmir, Turkey, will graduate with a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. Already a senior instructor in the Department of Construction Management & Civil & Construction Engineering, Gozde has big plans for her career in higher education. 鈥淚 have been teaching for eight years, but my goal is to go into administration to become a chair and dean,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t occurred to me that I need to understand higher education as a whole. I wanted to learn about how to be more effective in the classroom. I am so glad I chose this as a degree. I feel like getting the doctorate has made me a better teacher and facilitator.鈥 Gursoy decided to attend college in Arkansas after living with a great host family during high school who encouraged her to go to college in the U.S. She earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in interior design from the University of Central Arkansas before joining 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to complete a Master of Science in Construction Management degree. After working as an interior designer at Williams & Dean Architects and a lighting designer for Curtis Stout Inc., Gursoy branched out to start her own lighting and interior design company, G2 Lighting Design, in 2020. She鈥檚 won multiple awards for her designs and worked on notable Arkansas properties, including the Old State House Museum and Esse Purse Museum in Little Rock and the Dyess Colony Visitor Center and Johnny Cash Boyhood Home. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been really nice to practice professionally as well as be a professor,鈥 Gursoy said. 鈥淓specially in our field, you need to keep one foot in the professional world. It鈥檚 an ever-changing industry, and it鈥檚 a lot of fun to practice while you are a professor.鈥 After noticing how few women work in the construction industry, Gursoy wrote her dissertation, 鈥淎 Phenomenological Study of Best Strategies to Attract Young Arkansas Females to the Commercial Construction Industry among Arkansas Females Presently Working in the Commercial Construction Industry.鈥 She interviewed women leaders working in the construction industry in Arkansas. Her study identified and examined the barriers women face entering and working in the industry and initiatives that promote equality in the field of commercial construction in Arkansas. 鈥淭his is one of the fields where it鈥檚 untraditional for a woman to want to enter,鈥 Gursoy said. 鈥淲omen in the United States only make up about 13% of construction management employees. Speaking with other women who participated in my study, I found it鈥檚 very common for a woman to be discouraged, disrespected, or people make remarks about her appearance instead of her skills. It takes the spotlight away from her talent. I call these women trailblazers, and they really are just by being present in the construction field.鈥 Gursoy recommends that we should use educational programming and events that promote construction as a viable career to women at an earlier age. She points to the Vilonia Pathways Academy Conversion Charter, a charter school that partners with 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and provides a construction education at the high school level, as a great example. Gursoy worked on the curriculum design for the program. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really interesting because we are seeing a construction-focused degree at the high school level and seeing how many students want to become construction professionals,鈥 Gursoy said. Gursoy also recommended conducting research with younger students to find out what makes construction attractive as a career and providing women in the construction industry with mentors throughout their college and careers. 鈥淚 looked at a study for 9-12-year-olds, and 60 percent of respondents said they think construction is a man鈥檚 job,鈥 Gursoy said. 鈥淭he unconscious bias is embedded so deep that young children think this is not an occupation for women. Twenty percent of my participants were the first female hires in their companies, and that is just mind boggling to me. We have to put women at the forefront of this industry, so all people feel like they belong in the construction field.鈥漖]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Prepares for Future as Surgeon /news-archive/2022/12/14/taylor-arnold-graduation/ Wed, 14 Dec 2022 13:58:29 +0000 /news/?p=84080 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Prepares for Future as Surgeon]]> Taylor Arnold, a senior biology major from Hot Springs, said she was inspired to follow in her father鈥檚 footsteps to the medical field. 鈥淚t helps in the fact that my dad was a surgeon,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 grew up in that environment and got to see the ins and outs of the career. Being able to have the opportunity to take human anatomy, it solidified that goal for me. I love that 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock offers that course. It definitely helped me a lot.鈥 After graduating from Sheridan High School, Arnold joined 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock after taking a semester off to care for a sick relative. 鈥淢y aunt got really sick, and I ended up applying to go to school here so I could continue living with her,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock has helped me grow as a person because we have a really diverse community, and it鈥檚 helped me figure out who I am.鈥 While at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Arnold has served as president of the Campus Garden Alliance, vice president of the Biology Club, and a student ambassador for the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Out of all her activities, Arnold found participating in the Learning Assistant Program to be the most rewarding. Learning assistants take a course on the science of learning. Then they work with faculty to design and implement active learning instruction in the classroom. 鈥淭he most meaningful will always be the LA program because we get to work with students and help tutor them,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the best feeling ever when you can connect with another student, and they come up later and tell you that you made a difference for them.鈥 She is especially grateful to Ronia Kattoum, an instructor of chemistry, for serving as an inspirational mentor in her life. 鈥淚n high school, I鈥檝e always been seen as the dumb blonde stereotype by people who don鈥檛 know me,鈥 she said. 鈥淢s. Kattoum took a specific interest in me and asked me to join the Learning Assistant Program. She is the first professor that made me feel like I am important and that I could do whatever I put my mind to. Having that mentor in my life that sees the best in me really inspired me and helped me through my college career.鈥 While Arnold will start medical school in the fall, she鈥檒l be working as a patient care technician at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences next year. With graduation fast approaching, Arnold finds the end of her undergraduate career to be 鈥渂ittersweet,鈥 but is looking forward to starting the next step toward medical school. 鈥淚 am very excited to move forward in my life, but I am also sad that I won鈥檛 be in the same environment that I have been for the past four years,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 walk around campus, and I think this is one of the last times I will be here as a student. I鈥檓 just thankful for the opportunities and the kind of environment 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock offers to their students. That鈥檚 really what helped me here.鈥漖]> Graduating Student Finds New Career, Love of Writing at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/2022/12/14/love-of-writing/ Wed, 14 Dec 2022 13:55:43 +0000 /news/?p=84060 ... Graduating Student Finds New Career, Love of Writing at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock]]> 鈥淲hen I was a senior, I thought about what I was good at. I really liked English and creative writing. I鈥檝e enjoyed writing short stories in my free time for many years.鈥 After graduating high school, Johnson joined 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in 2014 for the close location to home and focus on education. 鈥淚 took my ACT here and really liked the campus,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was just a really pretty campus that fit my dreams of college. I wanted to live at home, and it was the perfect setting for me to focus on my education.鈥 She would graduate in 2018 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing and then join the graduate program. Johnson is now looking forward to her December graduation with a Master of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing degree. She is thankful to professors Heidi Harris, Karen Kuralt, Londie Martin, and Joe Williams for helping her. 鈥淭he feeling of finishing my professional portfolio and my professors coming back and saying, 鈥楾his looks good,鈥 is the most relief I鈥檝e ever had,鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淚t took a lot of effort and hard work to get here. I鈥檓 very happy and proud of what I accomplished.鈥 She cites her greatest accomplishment at graduate school as writing a grant that provides $10,000 in funding for two pilot suicide prevention programs in Arkansas jails. 鈥淚 took the grant writing class with Dr. Barb L鈥橢plattenier,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was one of the hardest classes I took in all my education, but it was worth it. I wrote my first grant, and it was funded. It was definitely my biggest accomplishment of graduate school, maybe ever, and it gave me a new appreciation for writing and how it can be used to help people.鈥 Unlike most new college graduates, Johnson won鈥檛 have to worry about finding a job as she started her career as a technical writer at MidSOUTH, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 social work academy, last year. She is responsible for developing training materials and coordinating continuing education trainings. 鈥淚鈥檝e done it sort of backwards,鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淚鈥檝e already gotten a job so this degree will help push my career forward and give me bigger opportunities in the future.鈥漖]> Cybersecurity Leader Earns Master鈥檚 Degree from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/2022/12/13/andrew-bomberger-graduation/ Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:38:11 +0000 /news/?p=84069 ... Cybersecurity Leader Earns Master鈥檚 Degree from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock]]> Andrew Bomberger, of Hot Springs, will graduate with a master鈥檚 degree in computer science on Dec. 17. While he鈥檚 grown into one of the department鈥檚 leading students, Bomberger was originally on a very different career path before discovering his passion for cybersecurity. 鈥淚 used to live in Pennsylvania, and my uncles owned a dairy farm,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 grew up thinking that I would do that for a living. I got to help on the farm and figured out it was something I wasn鈥檛 interested in. Around 2016, I saw a conference talk on cybersecurity and social engineering and thought it was really fascinating. I would love to be on the side that helps people configure devices, monitor networks, and help protect people from the bad people trying to break into their networks.鈥 Bomberger joined 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in 2017 after seeing the many awards the university鈥檚 Cybersecurity Club had won. He joined the Cyber Arena project, a cloud-based cybersecurity education initiative, in 2019. The Cyber Arena provides free cybersecurity education, training, and exercises to Arkansas students and teachers. So far, more than 2,000 students have benefited from the Cyber Arena nationwide. 鈥淚鈥檝e really enjoyed working on the Cyber Arena for the past four years,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hen I started, I only knew bits and pieces about programming. This has been a great learning and networking experience, meeting a lot of professionals in the field. I鈥檝e grown a lot as a person and a programmer from this project. I鈥檝e enjoyed helping others learn more about cybersecurity, and I hope I鈥檝e inspired other kids to go into the field.鈥
Photos of Andrew Bomberger by Ben Krain.

Photos of Andrew Bomberger by Ben Krain.

Although his professors have tried to get him to enroll in a doctorate program, Bomberger said he is finished with his education for now and has been interviewing for cybersecurity positions. His graduate project has taken his work in the Cyber Arena to the next level. He is building a cloud-based emulated red team network to provide advanced cybersecurity training for teachers and students. In cybersecurity, red teams consist of hackers who evaluate system security by acting as adversaries to overcome cybersecurity controls. Companies often hire hackers to test their network protections. 鈥淢y project was focused on seeing if we could automate the attack process,鈥 Bomberger said. 鈥淚t was taking specific machines that have various attack scripts and injecting them into different controlled student networks. The idea behind all of it is that it would help emulate a more realistic environment for cybersecurity training. If we can place more weaknesses and attacks into the system, we can hopefully enhance learning as a long-term goal and make the experience more dynamic for students.鈥漖]>