Editor's note: This is the first in a series on College of IST students who are currently serving or formerly served in the military, in commemoration of the University's Military Appreciation Week.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Neferteri Strickland was born into the military and has made a career of it. She grew up with two parents in the military and is currently a second lieutenant in the Pennsylvania National Guard. And now she’s getting her master’s degree online from Penn State in the hope of advancing her career.
That career started in high school, when Strickland enlisted in the Georgia National Guard as a computer information systems operator and analyst during her senior year after her parents retired and the family moved back to the United States from being stationed overseas.
“When we came stateside, it was a big adjustment,” she said. “A lot of the resources we have today weren’t there. I was looking for direction.”
She then went on to join the junior ROTC and was recruited into their pilot’s program. She says that she had a pilot’s license before a driver’s license.
“The military has provided me with every opportunity, from education to flight training,” she said. “It just feels like home.”
She went on to earn her bachelor of arts in mass communication and media studies from Savannah State University and spent the early part of her career as a radio announcer and operations assistant, where she gained much more than just learning how to talk on the radio.
“I gained a lifetime’s worth of marketing and operations experience, and public speaking comes easy,” she said. “Unfortunately for radio, I outgrew the lifestyle. Fortunately for me, I was able to reinvent myself. I found my calling.”
That calling was found through the Signal Corps, where she helps to develop, test and manage communications and information systems support for the military. There, she discovered her desire to learn more about cybersecurity, and soon she began pursuing a master of professional studies in information sciences, cybersecurity and information assurance online through Penn State World Campus.
“Communications is my job function and cybersecurity is the fastest growing career field with the biggest skills gap,” she said. “It is a perfect marriage.”