Valuable Airport Conversation

Submitted by Doreen Rose

"This was definitely time well-spent while dealing with flight delays."

While traveling from Houston to Tampa to New York, I had a wonderful experience.

A vacationing family saw me working on my devices and asked what I do for a living. They were fascinated by my occupation in the Cyber Security industry and seemed surprised to meet a woman in my role.

​The parents asked me to talk with their sons and daughters (ages 13-18) about my career. These young people were genuinely interested in Cyber Security, and I had an interesting conversation with the whole family. It was amazing to learn how security-aware these young people were and how they want to participate in STEM. They even told me that their parents and grandparents had been scammed, and they knew about Wannacry and Petya! I let them know that they could pursue security-related degrees in college.  They learned from me, but I also learned from them.

It was encouraging to meet parents who knew when to seize an opportunity and to interact with teenagers who were curious, courteous, and informed. This was definitely time well-spent while dealing with flight delays. 

​Doreen Rose is Director of the Security Advisory for North America at Avanade/Accenture.

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