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Alumni Highlight: Karla Jacobo

  • published: 2018/09/24
Karla Jacobo

Full Name: Karla Jacobo

UNO Degree(s): BS Cybersecurity, BA International Studies

Title/Employer: Security Analyst at Gallup

Hometown/State/Country: Omaha, Nebraska

Q: Why did you decide to come to UNO? What opportunities here did you see helping you with your future career?

I came to UNO because it was close to home and it had all of the topics that I was interested in studying. UNO offers a wide variety of classes. I could be studying Cryptography in the morning and Russian in the afternoon. In fact, I did do that. Taking classes outside of my major kept things interesting and led me to discover other subjects that I was interested in.

Q: Why did you select Cybersecurity as your major? It’s such an up-and-coming field, it has to be exciting!

I started out as Computer Science major. I soon realized that I loved Cybersecurity. One aspect that I love about the subject as a whole, is that it sometimes requires you to look at a situation from the perspective of someone with malicious intentions. It causes you to ask yourself: What damage could they do? How can we prevent it? It's that specific type of problem solving that makes me love this career path.

To me, my major is a field with a wide variety of possibilities. From what I've experienced, you're generally not stuck doing the same thing everyday at work. New situations present themselves. Everyday usually comes with a new learning experience.

 Karla Jacobo

Q: What can you do with a major in Cybersecurity? Your combination with International Studies is so interesting.

To me, my major is a field with a wide variety of possibilities. From what I've experienced, you're generally not stuck doing the same thing everyday at work. New situations present themselves. Everyday usually comes with a new learning experience.

Q: What class did you love the most? I bet there were some challenges.

I really enjoyed the Cryptography course here. It was a very hands-on class. For the final project we were able develop and execute our own encryption methods. Doing so was challenging, but very satisfying.

Q: What do you do for fun in your free time?

In my free time I usually just watch movies, knit, or play with my cats. I am a total cat lady.