always studying something

40-something // he/him // BS in Cybersecurity

[coffee-dad-studies]

FYI, I graduated. 🎓

(...if it wasn't clear from this post.)

[dark-sappho]

"defend your thesis" why are you attacking my thesis

[coffee-dad-studies]

Back to certification study — CCNA this time. I need to re-occupy my mind with some actual technical things and get some relief from management/leadership stuff.

(Also watching my hapless Mets over in the corner.)

[night-vale-community-radio]

How to Successfully Study in the Library

bring all of your materials with you

find a nice quiet spot void of distractions 

make sure to take little breaks every half hour or so

maybe bring a little snack

don’t look at the giant floating baby

just don’t 

try to forget about the giant floating baby in the library 

use different colors of highlighters to organize your notes  

[night-vale-community-radio]

you folks think this is like a fuckin doctor who or phineas and ferb reference but nah this is the shit I gotta put up with every day

[blvck-coffee-dad]

Had what was scheduled to be a 30 minute preliminary phone conversation for a job that I'm interested in. Twelve minutes in, they told me that they want me next week for a formal interview.

So that was cool.

[coffee-dad-studies]

I'm kind of talking into the void here, but I think there might be... two people following me here who'll know what I'm talking about here.

Anyway, I'm not in school right now but I think I need to occupy myself with some training and education anyway. Fortunately — or maybe unfortunately — I have study material and a free voucher for each of the following...

Cisco CCNA (voucher expires June 30)

CompTIA CloudNetX (voucher expires June 30)

(This is me realizing in the moment that both of those expire on the same day. 🙃)

The one that I really want/need for my career is the ISC2 CISSP, which I have study material for but no voucher yet. (I'd either have to pay for it myself or have it sponsored by my employer, and it's around $1000, so... it's gonna wait.)

Hopefully I'll keep my brain busy enough with all of this over the next few months.

[lesbiansagainsttheatre]

actually i think graduates of a university should have access to the library databases forever and ever amen

[panicatcisco]

Sunday morning coffees and networking labs ☕️

[coffee-dad-studies]

Was just browsing the subreddit for the cybersecurity degree programs at my alma mater and someone posted a screenshot that included their first name, their last name, and their student ID number.

Not a great look for someone studying information security. 😬

[academicssay]

[nonstickwaffleiron]

as an archivist I am begging you

put dates on everything

don’t believe digital stuff is preserved forever - if it’s really important (documents, photos, etc) print it out

name your files accurately I know it sucks but please

don’t destroy the original just bc you scanned it

rubber cement is the devil’s adhesive use photo corners and quit gluing shit

you will NOT remember write it down

if you staple things to the inside of a folder I will find you

your public library probably has equipment to digitize old media for free or can at least get you connected with somewhere that does!

[wizardarchetypes]

I love going to the library for a book for research and they have the book and they give me the reference number and i go to the shelf and the book is there and i get the book and i check it out. #darkacademia #darkacademiaaesthetic #researchcore #doicore

[classycookiexo]

“The time will pass anyway. You can either spend it getting the life you want or watching it go by. Choose wisely.”

[coffee-dad-studies]

Alright, well... I didn't pass the CCSP exam. First certification exam I didn't pass on the first try in a number of years.

I'm annoyed about it, but annoyance is about the extent. It just feels like a missed opportunity. My study habits were kinda fucked on this one (my depressing and mostly-fruitless job search probably had something to do with that, and THEN I finally got a new job and started it on exam day). The exam attempt was funded by my alma mater, so no money out of my pocket. That certification probably would not have helped much for career advancement, and I'm not even particularly interested in cloud-specific security. It would've been cool to have another cert in the ISC2 ecosystem, but it's okay.

Taking a break from studying for a bit, then locking in on CISSP.

[coffee-dad-studies]

Night-before-exam cram, 08/24/25

[coffee-dad-studies]

I have 12 hours of material to work my way through by my CCSP exam on Monday evening.

Monday is also my first official day at the new job, so very-last-minute cramming is out. 😬

[coffee-dad-studies]

I meant to get through 6 hours today and I made it to about 3. I'm getting sick and my body is conspiring against me. Nine hours tomorrow? We'll see what happens.

[coffee-dad-studies]

I have 12 hours of material to work my way through by my CCSP exam on Monday evening.

Monday is also my first official day at the new job, so very-last-minute cramming is out. 😬