$whoami

So, this is not something I ever imagined myself doing, but I realized that maybe this could be the start of something.

Hello and welcome, everyone! My name is Yara. I’m a fourth-year Computer Engineering student with an emphasis on cybersecurity, computer vision, and machine learning. I have also worked on a paper related to machine learning and had it published—one of the things I’m most proud of.

I love cats and gaming. My passion for cybersecurity started with the video game Watch_Dogs 2. I also enjoy writing poetry and painting. I love learning languages—English is my second language, with Arabic as my first. I’ve also learned a bit of French and Italian in school, and I’ve tried learning Japanese and Chinese before.

I’m about to graduate soon, and to be completely honest with you, I feel like crap. I mean, I’m 21 years old, and my programming skills at this moment feel subpar. I’m not that good at cybersecurity either, and I feel useless. It kind of feels like it’s “too late” for me—that I’ll end up amounting to nothing. My dreams seem to be getting further and further away, despite having worked toward them for years. My mistake? Fixating too much on the academic side of things and not broadening my horizons in the way I should have—especially when it comes to my practical skills.

I decided to start this blog to document my journey in cybersecurity and programming. I’m sure many people can relate to my experience, and I hope this space can make others feel a little more hopeful. I’ll be sharing CTF write-ups, projects I take on, personal experiences, and more. Hopefully, one day, this will grow into a community of cybersecurity enthusiasts who support and learn from each other.

Since this is my first-ever blog and my very first article, I’m prone to making mistakes—lots of them. I’m still learning, so if you have any constructive criticism, I’d greatly appreciate it!

Thank you for taking the time to read this! I hope you’ll join me on my journey!