How We Got Here

 

Thought it would be a good idea to write down how we ended up here in Pittsburgh at CMU in the first place. It is a series of tender mercies that I think should be recorded. While debating how I far I should rewind in our story I decided I might as well start from the beginning since I'm not sure I have it recorded in much detail even in journals.

How We Met

Jaden and I were setup by two of our best friends that ended up getting married while I was on my mission. On my end I had Morgann writing me every week from the time I was nine months out until the time I got home about this boy Jaden Richins I just HAD to date. On Jaden's end Elijah would see him at the gym and tell him in nine months there was a girl he needed to take out on a date after she got back from her mission. Thanks to their persistence we did eventually go out and haven't stopped going out since. Our first date was in July of 2018, we got engaged December of 2018 and were married in March of 2019. 

 

 

 

The Switch to Cyber

During our process of dating I was living in Salt Lake in the cutest little house on Browning Ave my roomies and I affectionately called "The Beach House" and going to school at the University of Utah. Jaden was then studying Political Science at Weber State University with the aspiration of going to law school. Things shifted when he was talking to one of the attorneys he worked for who told him if he were to go back and do school again he would've done an undergrad in accounting. He explained that he believed that it would have set him apart from other law students trying to get into law school as well as helped him be able to keep his own books when he had his own firm. So that prompted the shift from political science to accounting in the business school at Weber. After his acceptance into the business school Jaden took a class from the legendary Dr. Randy Boyle the professor of the Management Information Systems class that changed the trajectory of our lives. 

I'll never forget the day Jaden called me so excited after talking to Professor Boyle about switching into the Management Information Systems degree. Boyle had great connections with the best school in the country for cybersecurity: Carnegie Mellon University. He told Jaden that if he wanted it bad enough he could work hard and apply for an internship the following summer that would send him to Pittsburgh for three months where he would spend time attending classes on CMU's campus and working and networking with big league companies on hands on projects. Doing the internship would get him a foot in the door to a future graduate degree program as well as cut the tuition for the program in half. Listening to him talk about this immediately felt like the right path to both of us. From that time forward I had all the confidence in the world that Jaden was going to make it. He worked so hard. The amount of hours he put in to get good grades and get his GPA as high as possible was astounding. That first semester after we were married I'd often wake up in the middle of the night to find him missing from our bed and snoring in the other room asleep after studying deep into the night. In November of 2019 he flew out to Pittsburgh for a fall visitation and tour of CMU's campus. It was the first time we had been away from each other and I remember crying all the way home after dropping him off at the airport (tender, I know). He came back ranting and raving over the drive into Pittsburgh, what a cool city it was, and how incredible the campus was as well as the people he met. You could tell he wanted to get there so bad. Months after that initial conversation with Dr. Boyle Jade started the application process for the Summer Security Intensive internship opportunity. He submitted his application over Christmas break and we began the what felt like excruciatingly long process of waiting to hear back.

 

The Internship

In February 2020 Jaden received a letter of acceptance into Carnegie Mellon University's IT Lab: Summer Security Intensive (SSI). We were so excited for this opportunity and all it meant for our future.We spent the next month trying to plan for how we were going to go about the summer. We decided he would fly out and live there for the three months and I would stay home and work. Boyle said that is what most married students did and that (in the nicest way possible) it just wasn't worth trying to find a job out there for three months. But then March happened and the entire world shut down. As everyone grappled with what the lengthening quarantine meant for their families, schools, businesses, churches etc. We anxiously awaited to hear what CMU was planning on doing for the summer. In April Jaden received an email declaring that the internship would be moving online. There would be virtual classes, guest speakers and group projects. Selfishly I was glad that I didn't have to say goodbye to him for three months but also understood the disadvantage of not being able to be in person and have hands on interaction with the campus and businesses associated with the summer program. Fortunately enough however, there were several students from Weber accepted into the SSI program and of those students three of them became Jaden's study group: Tanner, Taylor and Zach. They would meet up to study and spent long hours on the phone discussing assignments and projects. Jaden and Zach would go play golf on the weekends and they became good friends throughout the summer. I watched as Jaden put in hard work and hundreds of hours to succeeding in the program. He passed his classes with flying colors and gained insight into what a future program with Carnegie would look like. It was incredible experience despite being virtual and a fantastic foot in the door to the master's program.

The Application Process

Nearly as soon as the summer internship program was completed it was time to start the application process for the master's program. This included studying and taking the GRE exam, writing another essay, and filling out all the other paperwork required for the application.

 Ever since we were dating I have had the privilege of being Jaden's Chief Editor for nearly all of his school papers and essays. I loved what he shared in his application essay for the master's program:

"I grew up with a father who owns and runs a plumbing supply business. Because it is a family-owned business, my siblings and I were able to work together and spend time in the store. The time I spent in that store taught me a great deal about business but also about communication. I was able to watch my dad communicate with customers and employees. I saw how hard he worked and the honesty he demonstrated in his interactions with people. His hard work, integrity and ability to communicate has led to a successful business. I learned a lot from working with my dad over the years and I plan to take that same work ethic, integrity and communication ability I learned from him into the world of cybersecurity."

For Jaden everything comes back to family. He recognizes his family is who shaped and molded him into the man he is today and all of his goals in life are set in order to provide for our little family. I am so grateful that he focuses and values family so much. One of the biggest reasons why a career in cybersecurity is so appealing to him is because it is a long-term field that will only continue to grow in importance if not necessity. It is unlikely he won't ever have to worry about his field of career wavering or losing relevance so he can support our family for the years to come.

He submitted his application partway through the fall semester of 2020 and if we thought it was a long waiting period for the internship this was even worse!

 

My Own Job and Graduation

I do want to take a moment and write a little bit about the tender mercies surrounding my own schooling and career that enabled both of our goals to fall in line with one another. When I got home from my mission in 2018 I became a temple worker at the Bountiful Utah temple. During my setting apart blessing I was told that as I worked in the temple decisions surrounding my education and future would become clear to me. I felt very guided in my decisions and opportunities surrounding my college experience at the University of Utah. The hard work I did in high school to earn college credit paired with an amazing internship allowed me to complete a four year degree in two years and land my current job at Flywheel Outdoor Group. Being able to complete a degree early meant that I didn't have to figure out how to finish my own schooling as Jaden prepared for the next leg of his. The company that hired me away from my internship was a company based in Louisiana that enabled me to work remotely. It is work that I enjoy and love even more because of the flexibility it offers me to pick up and go wherever the next chapter of life takes us (as long as there is an internet connection). This was all incredibly comforting as we contemplated the reality of moving out of state if/when Jaden was accepted to CMU's master's program.

 

 

The Acceptance Letter

February 2021 finally came around and after weeks of refreshing his inbox hundreds of times a day an email came through offering Jaden admission into the Master of Science in Information Security Policy and Management Program through Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College of Information Systems Public Policy and Management. We could not have been more relieved and excited to hear that he did it! We did it! We were moving to Pittsburgh! That spring was spent making preparations including finding a place to live, figuring out when and how to move and squeezing in every last second spending time with friends and family we would miss dearly. Also can't forget to call out that Jaden graduated with his bachelor's in Information Systems at Weber. Although Jaden will always be a Ute at heart we are forever indebted to Weber State for providing a truly life changing educational experience. 

Additionally were thrilled to hear that Tanner, Taylor and Zach had also been accepted into the program. When we had them and their wives over to our house for a barbecue to celebrate and get to know each other better we decided pretty quickly that we were extremely lucky to be moving across the country with built-in friends and were excited at all that awaited us in Pittsburgh.

 

 

 

 

The Journey Continues

And here we are a little over a month into our new life out here. Loving the experiences of exploring a new place, meeting new people, and building this next chapter of our life out here. Looking back at all that went into getting us here is both humbling and fulfilling. We both firmly believe that the most worthwhile things in life take work and that hard work and acting in faith results in amazing and unexpected opportunities. We truly are so appreciative of the love and support of our family and friends and the way we have experienced the hand of the Lord guiding our life. So cheers to the next two years and all the peaches, pits and lessons learned!