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When she was young, Chizoba Okeke dreamed of working for the FBI.

“I wanted to work in law enforcement and stop the bad guys,” she said. “While my path has changed, the dream is the same.”

Okeke didn’t have to look further than inside her home to see that anyone could succeed in the U.S. with discipline and determination. She grew up in Columbia, Maryland, the daughter of two Nigerian nationals who immigrated to the U.S. as adults. Her mother, Amuche, earned a degree in business management from the University of Phoenix and worked for a credit union for 16 years. Her father, Igwebuike, earned an undergraduate degree in finance and banking and a master’s degree in business administration from Southeastern University in Washington D.C., and worked as a correctional officer for 21 years for the state of Maryland.

Okeke needed all the grit she inherited from her parents when she enrolled in Georgia Gwinnett College right out of high school. GGC appealed to her because of its smaller size.

“I felt like I wouldn’t get lost in a sea of faces here,” she said.

In the beginning, she worked toward a degree in psychology with a minor in criminology, but after getting through a few semesters, she found herself being drawn off this path. In time, she realized her passion was in computers and switched her focus to information technology (IT).

“I figured I could get the best of both worlds and continue to try and hunt down threat actors and stop bad guys with cybersecurity,” said Okeke.

In a few weeks, Okeke will walk across a stage to accept a bachelor of science degree in IT with a concentration in systems and security, a diploma it has taken her seven years to earn.

“I used to be ashamed of that fact,” she said. “I had always wished I had taken steps differently in the earlier years of my life to guarantee I graduated ‘on time,’ but now I see I’m right where I needed to be. I’m glad I took my time and, despite some frustrations, got my degree with patience and hard work.”

Okeke says her favorite memory from her time at GGC is participating in the Women In Technology Campus and Optiv Security Hackathon, a contest that allows teams of students to explore aspects of information security and showcase their hacking skills. This year, over 100 participants across eight colleges competed in a series of digital Capture the Flag (CTF) challenges.

“Joining that competition brought me out of my comfort zone,” said Okeke. “I got to meet some of the employees from Optiv themselves, and I won the teamwork title, which was a very humbling experience.”

After graduating, Okeke plans to work in the IT security field for three to five years, pay off her student loans, and then pursue a master’s degree.