Mae Siggins is an ambitious 20-year-old whose career is taking off. She’s a 2016 Wake Tech graduate with an associate’s degree in Information Systems Security. Her education, she says, started her on a path to success. 

A friend’s college experiences sparked her interest in enrolling at Wake Tech. She was impressed by the array of degree options – and happy to find that her education would be affordable. And the small class sizes made learning a lot more inviting, Mae says: “I love the professors at Wake Tech. They’re here to help you and invest in you.” 

Mae’s Networking Technology instructor, Barbara Warner, inspired her to pursue digital forensics. Seeing successful women in a traditionally male-dominated field gave her even more motivation to excel. “We’re just as capable!” Mae says. She firmly believes women who love computers and technology should pursue it: “It’s a risk worth taking.” 

It was definitely worth it for Mae: A leading IT company was impressed with her work and offered her an internship – eight months before she was scheduled to graduate! It was a confidence booster for sure. Mae says the offer was “a huge testament to my skills and the trust they were placing in me.” 

After graduating from Wake Tech, she went to work for that company as an IT Support and Security Operations Technician, in Florida. She attributes her success to her Wake Tech education and says it is “the smarter choice.” She also became a member of Women in Security within the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), where she has opportunities to volunteer and to share stories with others in the tech world. 

In addition to being fully immersed in her career, Mae is taking classes online to earn a bachelor’s degree in Information Security.  With goals to become a consultant in digital forensics and a chief security officer, Mae doesn’t show signs of slowing down anytime soon!