Weekly Progress Blog #4 (10/7 - 10/13)

Anish Madgula

Weekly Goals:
● Finish contacting everyone on my contact list
● Obtain at least 2 interviews in total
● Contact Dallas Cowboys via email to obtain more Cybersecurity contacts (if needed)
● Complete Research Assessment #4
● Complete Topic Proposal
● Update Weekly Progress Blog
● Update Contact List accordingly
● Send a thank you note to someone that I am grateful for

Monday (10/7):
● Contacted 6 more Cybersecurity professionals during ISM class
● Updated Contact List
● Started Topic Proposal
● Rescheduled my first interview as per request from the professional

Tuesday (10/8):
● Sent follow up messages to some of the professionals that I attempted to connect with
earlier on LinkedIn
● Updated Contact List
● Completed Topic Proposal
● Updated Weekly Progress Blog

Wednesday (10/9):
● Followed up with 3 more Cybersecurity professionals that I had contacted earlier
● Updated Contact List
● Found an interesting article and annotated it for Research Assessment #4
● Emailed the communications person from the Dallas Cowboys Organization to receive
more Cybersecurity contacts

Thursday (10/10):
● Reached out to Cybersecurity professionals that I had contacted on Monday to follow up
● Updated Contact List
● Completed Research Assessment #4
● Sent a thank you note to one of my close family friends

Friday (10/11):
 ● Sent 2 more invitations to Cybersecurity professionals on LinkedIn to connect
● Updated Contact List
● Updated Weekly Progress Blog

Saturday (10/12):
● Replied to some of the Cybersecurity professionals that were interested in knowing more
about the ISM program
● Updated Contact List
● Updated Weekly Progress Blog

Sunday (10/13):
● Completed Weekly Progress Blog
● Replied to several other Cybersecurity professionals that replied to me via
email/LinkedIn
● Updated Contact List accordingly

Upcoming Goals for Next Week:

● Schedule 1-2 more interviews with Cybersecurity professionals
● Complete Research Assessment #5/Continue researching topics within Cybersecurity
● Complete Contact List with at least 2 scheduled interviews, 6 conversations, and 20
attempts
● Make a good impression on my first interview
● Send thank you notes to more people that I am grateful for
● Complete Weekly Progress Blog #5
● Update Digital Portfolio

Reflections:
As this school year seems to be moving at an extremely fast pace, it is becoming
necessary for me to be more and more efficient to keep up with all of the assignments that I am
receiving from many of my classes and extracurricular activities. While this can be draining, it is
also extremely satisfying when I finally complete each of those assignments with excellent
quality. Since the start of ISM, my productivity and confidence levels have greatly increased as I
have been able to contact professionals without as much anxiety and I have been able to schedule
my tasks in a very organized manner. Furthermore, I realized that not many Cybersecurity
professionals are currently willing to schedule an interview with me, but I will keep persevering
for the next few weeks and see if there is anything that I can do to increase my chances of
meeting with them. On a more positive note, I am learning much more about my topic and it is
starting to interest me much more than it did before. Although there is a plethora of information
that I still have to learn, I am feeling more prepared to talk to my potential mentor and I am very
excited to learn about what types of real world experiences I can gain in my near future!