SAN ANTONIO – A UTSA student is defying the odds and becoming the first in her family to graduate college in the male-dominated field of cybersecurity.
“I want to make sure my family is taken care of. That’s one of the big reasons why I’m back at school because I want to give back to my family,” Jessica Le, UTSA graduate, said.
Jesssica Le’s family immigrated from Vietnam back in the 80’s.
“They were on a boat with a single propellor. A tablespoon of water, so there was no food,” Le said.
Le said her family was escaping communism and hoping for a better future.
“They are on a boat from Vietnam to Malaysia. A week there. Two or three months to Indonesia. They all came to Port Aransas,” Le said.
Texas became home for Le. She moved around a lot, but after graduation and getting pregnant, she took a break.
“Because I have my daughter, I was like, ‘It’s time to do something more than just be a stay home mom during that time, not having a future for her,’” Le said.
She went back to school, transferring to UTSA and focusing on a challenging career path, cybersecurity.
“I’ve always been interested in technology, but I was kind of a little hesitant about coming into this industry because its very heavily male-dominant,” Le said.
Le was dedicated and joined the Association for Computing Machinery Women’s Chapter and eventually landed an internship at Chevron.
“They offer an extension for a full-time position, so I will be working for them hopefully for next year,” Le said.
Le has a bachelor’s degree in business administration in cybersecurity and a minor in digital forensics. She is always thinking about what is best for her daughter.
“She is absolutely my motivation in life for everything I’m doing, especially for school and just trying to provide her better future for her,” Le said. She hopes other women take a chance in this field, too.
“There are other females in this program and also in the computer science who feel the same way, too. It’s just a matter of fact how willing you are able to step out of your comfort zone and excel from there,” Le said.