Margaret Barnett built a career helping patients regain strength through physical therapy. Now, she鈥檚 shifting her focus from healing bodies to protecting data.
After 20-plus years as a physical therapist and small business owner, Barnett will soon graduate from 手机看片鈥檚 new Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in cybersecurity, an impactful internship in the field and job offers on the table.
Her decision to pursue a cybersecurity degree was personal. Her aging father fell victim to phishing calls and email scams. She was frustrated that fraudsters found it easy to deceive people. She wanted to better understand how to fight digital threats.
鈥淪eeing how easy it was for someone to take advantage of my dad really hit me,鈥� Barnett said. 鈥淗e was actually a victim of financial scamming multiple times, unfortunately, in a very bad way. It made me realize how important it is to protect people in the digital world.鈥�
From software engineering to physical therapy
Barnett鈥檚 career began in computing. She earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in industrial and systems engineering from the University of 手机看片 in 1989 and landed a software engineering role at Andersen Consulting. But four years later, she left computing for a different passion.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 that I didn鈥檛 like computing or software engineering. I just found a passion in something else and wanted to see where it could take me,鈥� Barnett explained. 鈥淚 was a speed skater, really into fitness and sports, and I wanted to combine that with a career. Physical therapy was a good option for job opportunities and at the time, it paid well.鈥�
She went on to earn a master鈥檚 degree and a doctorate in physical therapy. She built a successful practice. Her computing background helped with the operations side of the business.
But over time, the heavy workload and health care system demands began to take a toll. The physical nature of the work started to catch up with her, too.
鈥淏eing the kind of physical therapist that I am, knowing what really works, is actually very difficult to do in today鈥檚 health care environment,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he insurance and health care world is tough. And manual therapy gets harder as we get older.
鈥淚t was fulfilling and it served me very well for a long time, but it was time to reimagine my career again.鈥�
Returning to tech roots
She thought about her computing interests and considered how fraud had impacted her family. Cybersecurity offered the right mix of intellectual challenge and social impact.
Barnett first took online computer science classes at the University of 手机看片 but quickly realized the courses she wanted, those focused on security, weren鈥檛 available to online students. That led her to 手机看片. She found more course options. She valued 手机看片鈥檚 reputation in the field. She liked the cybersecurity program鈥檚 flexibility, but she also appreciated its rigor.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been the kind of person who wants to keep learning,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his field never stops evolving, and that excites me, even when the classes are difficult.鈥�
Courses in networking and risk management pushed her thinking and tested her persistence. Her favorite was Associate Professor Richard Rauscher鈥檚 Computer Information Networks course.
鈥淭hat course was tough, but it gave me more insight than any other,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t pushed me to really understand how the internet works 鈥� its protocols, its history and the updates over time. Professor Rauscher was demanding, but in the best way. He鈥檚 a real expert, but he also uses humor and stories to keep you engaged. It made a hard class both memorable and enjoyable, and what I learned there became the foundation for my internship.鈥�
Her favorite faculty members are academics who also have industry expertise.
鈥淒r. [William] Gauvin taught three of my courses and supervised my internship. He is an industry expert and was instrumental in my learning a variety of the technical aspects of cybersecurity from foundations and terminology to use of common tools in the industry in network security and malware analysis,鈥� she said.
鈥淎nd Ryan Irving is an industry expert who taught me about information security management in preparation for the CISSP certification, as well as the Incident Response Methods course, which is essential for cybersecurity analysts.鈥�
Hands-on cyber learning
She was able to put that foundation to use at an internship with CampusUSA Credit Union in Gainesville. Working with the firm鈥檚 infosec team, she conducted a security gap analysis, participated in incident response and threat research, drafted employee training articles and even helped her team develop an AI implementation plan.
鈥淚t was a variety of things, from risk management to technical projects, and I loved it,鈥� Barnett said. 鈥淚 was able to apply classroom learning to real-world problems and I walked away feeling like I had truly contributed. It confirmed that this is exactly where I want to be.鈥�
The experience also reminded her of something she had missed.
鈥淚n physical therapy, so much of the work is one-on-one,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n cybersecurity, you鈥檙e part of a team, solving problems together. I really enjoyed that.鈥�
The fifth degree
She has one job offer -- for an associate IT auditor/assessor role for a cybersecurity and compliance firm -- on the table and three other companies are trying to recruit her. She will have to make a choice before December鈥檚 graduation ceremonies, which will take place on Barnett鈥檚 59th birthday. When she crosses the stage, she will add a cybersecurity degree to a resume that already includes bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral credentials. This fifth degree has equipped her to take on modern digital threats and protect the people and organizations who depend on secure systems.