Ethan Walker, a Junior in the CECS signature Innovative Transdisciplinary Studies (ITS) program, has a lot of interests. He enjoys robotics, computer science, cybersecurity, and the creative process. Ethan was recommended to the Dean because of his exceptional technical skills and was soon hired as a student assistant in the CECS Innovation Lab. Shortly after, he changed his major to ITS. For Ethan, who originally enrolled at the University of Tennessee as a business management major, the ITS degree has allowed him to explore those interests and design a course of study unique to him.
“I chose ITS because of its amazing flexibility to create my degree with courses that fit my interests and will lead to career paths I can see myself excelling in,” he says. “I like that I will graduate with not only my degree but with certificates in other specialized areas within technology that gave me hands-on experiences. I can better apply my learning in the workforce and be more marketable to future employers.”
Ethan has thrived within the flexible, non-traditional structure of CECS. “This college is not like any normal college,” he insists. “You are the one in control of your future and CECS lets you take that control to a level no other college can. You can truly make your college experience your own in this setting with not only great courses but excellent staff and professors whose number one goal is to see you succeed.”
Ethan is especially interested in cybersecurity after the interactive experiences he’s had in one of his CECS courses. “I enjoyed getting hands on experience with cybersecurity tools like the OS Linux Kali in a controlled environment,” he says. “This same class allowed us to reverse engineer a phishing attack and get a real-world approach to combating these threats that are seen daily. It’s been my favorite class so far and definitely got me interested in cybersecurity as a career path.”
While Ethan is still exploring careers, he knows he’s in an environment that will support discovery, too. “Even though my true future plans are still undecided, I will have the capability to choose what my future holds,” he says. “Instead of locking myself in one field, I can now go anywhere in a wide range of technological disciplines such as AI or cybersecurity. Because of CECS, I will be able to build my career in the way I want.”