My name is Zooey Nguyen, and I was an Aircraft Maintenance Technician in the US Army.

I grew up in a rural farming area of Vietnam, and life was not easy. So, my parents would often encourage my brother and me to be diligent in our studies. They didn’t want us to experience the hardships they went through during the war, which barred their access to education. That’s why our parents worked hard to send us to school. They inspired us to pursue a career that would set us up for a more comfortable life.
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When I came to America, I immediately started looking for employment to help my family. I landed a job in the oil industry, which was fortunate since I had experience in that field. After a few years, I decided to transition into the aviation industry—which brought me to the U.S. Army. During my stay in the military, I developed invaluable skills as a mechanic in the aviation field.

I was about to transition out of the army when opportunity came knocking at my door.

I was going over a military briefing and I stumbled upon information about Divergence Academy. Reading about what Divergence does for veterans, I decided to put my name down on the list of people interested in an IT career.

I have always been interested in Information Technology, but I never got the chance to really pursue it. Meanwhile, my brothers, cousin, and friends were already in the IT field. They always talked about their careers, and their stories never failed to amaze me. So, they got me thinking about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life when I finally transitioned out of the army—pursuing a thriving career in IT was my answer.

I didn't have any background or experience in IT.

Even with no base knowledge about the field, I still wanted to pursue my dream. So, I reached out to Divergence, and Beth guided me through which cybersecurity course would best fit me. From there, my interest in the field kept growing and I tried my best to learn something new every day. It amazes me how Divergence enabled me to transition from an engineering job to a budding IT career. So far, it has been a huge challenge but the experience has been nothing short of fantastic.

The instructors are not exaggerating when they say “learning is like drinking from a firehose.” But, if you are really determined to achieve your goals, you should take that firehose and drink as much as you can. Every day, I spend four hours in class focusing on the lessons being taught. After class, I take short breaks and continue studying. When I feel stumped, I talk to my friends, coworkers, and my cousin for advice.