My Summer in Cyber: Middle School Student Ethan Hill Loved Learning About Cybersecurity at LSU Shreveport

It’s cybersecurity awareness month and Ethan Hill, a 12-year-old student at Walnut Hill Middle School in Caddo Parish, looks back at his summer experience with the Louisiana Preparatory Program, or LaPREP, at LSU Shreveport, where he learned to navigate more safely through cyberspace:

“Math is my favorite subject to learn, and also, I understand it better than all of the other subjects. There’s a lot of math in cybersecurity.

“At LaPREP, we learned about phishing and cyphers and crypto and the basics of computers. The camp definitely allowed me to be safer and more self-aware on the internet, even though I’d already taken computer literacy as an elective at Walnut Hill.

“There was a lot of things I didn’t know: How important cyber can be. There are many malware and viruses that can be put into your computer, and you won’t even know about it… They can leak your private information even if you buy a new computer; the virus can spread to that new computer. 

“I like the internet. It’s a good place to make connections with people, but you have to know how to protect yourself. The internet can be a very dangerous place.”
- Ethan Hill, 12, Walnut Hill Middle School student

“Malware stands for malicious code, and it keeps getting stronger and stronger! It can be ransomware, or a trojan, as in the horse of Troy, or a virus or a worm—what seems like a good link but isn’t a good link.

“If my main goal for the future doesn’t work out, I might do cybersecurity. I want to study it further, but my main goal is to become a marine biologist. Now, as a marine biologist, you have a lot of data. Data about animals that could be leaked by malware. I want to know cyber better so I can become a better marine biologist.

“Knowing cyber can help you get almost any job. Like my best friend: He wants to work on spaceships as an astrophysicist. For that, he’s going to need computer knowledge and cyber. My other friend wants to be a coach, but if another coach hacks your computer, he’ll know your whole game plan!

“I like the internet. It’s a good place to make connections with people, but you have to know how to protect yourself. The internet can be a very dangerous place.”

About LaPREP

Louisiana Preparatory Program, or LaPREP, is a two-summer enrichment program that identifies, encourages and instructs competent middle and early high school students, preparing them to complete a college degree program in math, science or engineering.