IT Milk: entry

I attended the first meetings of both the IA (Information Assurance) Club and the SRA (Security and Risk Analysis) Club at Penn State University. These two clubs are the organizations that most appealed to me during IST Connections Day, where all of the IST clubs set up booths to recruit new members. What you learn in the classroom is trivial, no matter how experienced and skilled the professor may be. Real applicable knowledge comes from your extracurricular activities and by networking with other students in your field of study.

Here is my take on the two clubs mentioned above.

Information Assurance Club

The IA Club is just a fancy name for “Hacking Club.” I love this club because it’s run just like I ran the IST Club last year at Penn State Hazleton. The emphasis is on group learning. There are biweekly seminars where fellow members make presentations about topics that they know a lot about. For instance, Steve Carman will soon be making a presentation on the subject of SQL injections.

Ssecurity and Risk Analysis Club

It’s awesome that both the co-presidents of the SRA Club are females even though the IST major is starving over the under-representation of females in the major. There is even an organization here called WIST (Women in IST) to combat against this epidemic in our College of IST. By the way, the president of IA Club is also female. It’s great to see gender diversity in your organizations, because it gives off the first impression that the group is dynamic and innovative.

A friend told me not to expect to learn much of anything from the SRA Club. From what I heard at the general informational meeting, the purpose of the SRA Club is to network with other students in the major, gain internships, and give input into how Penn State University will continue to improve the SRA major in regards to the curriculum and new professors.

In summary, the IA Club and the SRA Club both serve different purposes. You can gain technical knowledge about hacking from the IA Club, while you can broaden your career outlook in the computer security field in the SRA Club. I would recommend everyone in the SRA major to sign up for and participate in both organizations.