Ms. Garrison, who currently serves as the Deputy of Engineering, Architecture, and Design supporting the Defense Health Agency (DHA), shared her journey and insights on careers in technology. She spoke passionately about the many pathways students can take to achieve success in the tech industry—reminding our members that college is a way, but not the only way. Ms. Garrison also happens to be the daughter of Mr. Tom Nawrocki, CCSD’s Executive Director of Network Operations and Cybersecurity.

Her message echoed what our students hear daily in our CTE classrooms—that hard work, attitude, and determination are key ingredients to success. Ms. Garrison’s experience leading an otherwise all-male engineering team inspired our students, and their faces lit up as she shared her story.

She left our chapter with several powerful takeaways, including:

• “Internship and opportunities are all about your attitude.”
• “There are many routes to success—not just college.”
• “No one is going to fight harder for you than you.”

Ms. Garrison also shared these additional words of wisdom for our future tech leaders:

• You don’t need to have your entire career path figured out—focus on continuous progress.
• Advocate for yourself; no one should fight harder for you than yourself.
• Don’t be afraid to ask your manager for more challenging work.
• Your degree doesn’t define your future—you do.
• Certifications can be just as valuable as a formal degree.
• Embrace unfamiliar opportunities as chances to learn and grow.
• Technology touches every field—identify where your role or interests connect to tech.

We are grateful to Ms. Garrison for sharing her wisdom and experiences. Her visit reinforced the WiCyS mission to empower and expose our students, especially young women, to opportunities in Cybersecurity and all areas of technology.