I’m Frank McLemore, a 36 year old college graduate with a Master’s degree in Information System Security from the University of Houston. Coming from a large family where I grew up with my six siblings, I’ve learned the values of Communication, Collaboration, Patience, Respect, and Compassion. While growing up, my parents didn’t always have the finances to comfortability purchase the things that their children wanted. However, through personal sacrifice, my parents worked second jobs and sold their own possessions to provide my siblings and myself with the things that we were passionate about. As an adult, I can say that it was these actions by my parents which instilled upon me the values of Compassion, Respect, and Patience.

     While growing up, there was always a computer system around to play with. One of my earliest memories is of me playing with my father’s Atari ST computer. What made this computer system interesting to me was that when it crashed, instead of displaying an error message which we are used to today, it displayed a cartoon bomb. Depending upon the type of the crash, more bombs would be displayed on the screen. Over the years, we upgraded the family computer several times which allowed me to gain experience working with operating systems such as DOS, Linux, and almost every iteration of Windows.

     The joy and passion to learn more about computers only increased over the years. By the time I had graduated High school, I had taught myself HTML, C++, CSS, and SQL in addition to building my own computer and learning how to network it with other systems in my house. In 2008 I decided to further my passion in computers by attending Houston Community College. During my time at Houston Community College, I learned about the fundamentals of networking, installing and setting up parent and child domains, digital forensics, and the fundamentals of cyber security. In May of 2011 I graduated from Houston Community College with an Associates in Applied Science in Computer Science Technology/Network & Telecommunications. While several of my classmates decided to join the work force, my drive for continued knowledge along with a new interest in digital forensics and cyber security drove me to enroll at the University of Houston to work towards a Bachelor’s in Computer Information Systems. For the next three years, I would learn about new concepts such as Project Management and Risk Management all while learning the importance of Communication and Collaboration on group projects.

     During the three years I worked on my Bachelor’s degree at the University of Houston, I took a class taught by Jerlyn Mardis and William Arthur Conklin on Digital Forensics. It was during this course where I learned about the roles of a digital forensics investigator, the proper handling of evidence and how to develop a chain of custody. There were two concepts about the role of a digital forensics investigator the stood out to me the most. The first concept was that as a digital forensics investigator you must act on behalf of the data as a witness. The second concept was that you must let the data speech for itself and leave all pre-conceived assumptions about the case behind. While the data might show that user X’s account was logged in during the time in question, it doesn’t prove that it was user X that logged in using the account. In addition to studying digital forensic cases, during this class period I learned about the Master degree plan in Information System Security being run by William Arthur Conklin. Wanting to further my knowledge in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics, I applied for the Master’s program at the University of Houston and immediately got accepted and continued my education upon completing my Bachelor’s degree.

     Over a period of nine years, I have continuously worked towards improving myself as a person and accomplishing my dreams. As I enter my final semester at the University of Houston, I reflect upon all the challenges I faced, people I met, and lessons I learned. Throughout the nine years I’ve spent as a student there were two quotes which kept me going through tough times when I thought that I was unable to move forward and complete my dreams. The first quote is from Philippians 4:13 which states “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. The second quote is from Edmund Burke who once said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” These two quotes not only inspired me to continue through the tough times, but I feel they define me as a person. I want to use the skills and knowledge I have gained throughout the years to help those around me and to try and protect those who are unable to protect themselves. If I sit idly by and do nothing, then I am only helping to make things worse through my inaction.