Rami Shams

When I first began my college search during junior year of high school, my counselor informed me about the various Maryland universities on one campus at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG). Even though I decided to attend Salisbury University in Salisbury, once I graduated and moved back to Montgomery County I knew I wanted to get my M.S. and work at the same time. Fortunately, USG made this a possible.

I was working at a company that involved combating fraud. The idea of being an investigator intrigued me, so I decided to enroll in the University of Baltimore’s Forensic Science – Cyber Investigations program at USG. My hope was that this degree would lead me on a career path which would allow me to use my analytical side. As a student, I was able to practice utilizing various software’s and tools that would otherwise be too expensive to purchase on my own. In addition to the state-of-art facilities at USG, I also received support from the faculty and staff. Our program director, Dr. Nima Zahadat, assisted everyone in publishing our research papers.

USG has made it possible for me to attend school full-time, work full-time, and volunteer all concurrently. Not only have I improved my time management skills, but I have also built invaluable friendships with people in my classes and around campus.

For my long-term career goals, I would like to earn certifications such as the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Eventually down the road I would like to work in Cyber Intelligence or Anti-Money Laundering. I may even do some freelancing work where I could perform data recovery for people who may have deleted important files from their computers or mobile devices.