My NJCCIC Internship Experience (Part 3): Impact, Takeaways & Advice

This internship taught me that cybersecurity is as much about strategy, adaptability, and communication as it is about technical skills. I learned how to work in ambiguous, high-expectation environments, built relationships that led directly to new opportunities like JerseyCTF challenge development, and left with a practical framework for problem-solving. Below, I break down the biggest impacts on my skills, the lessons I’ll carry forward, and how future interns can get the most out of their NJCCIC experience.

Impact on My Skills & Perspective

Before NJCCIC, I saw cybersecurity primarily as technical problem-solving. After months of exposure to real-time incident briefings, policy discussions, and inter-agency collaboration, I now view it as an interconnected field where technical execution must align with law, policy, and public awareness.

Our capstone research — adversarial attacks against autonomous vehicles — wasn’t just a technical study; it was part of a broader dialogue on AI trust and safety. That shifted my thinking: every project has multiple layers of impact, and the “final product” is more than just working code or a completed paper.

Lessons Beyond the Resume

The most valuable skill I gained was learning how to operate without a pre-built structure. NJCCIC intentionally gave us room to self-organize — which meant setting our own deadlines, dividing work fairly, and sourcing our own materials when resources weren’t handed to us.

These are the same skills needed in graduate research, startups, and high-stakes industry roles:

• Self-management when no one’s watching.

• Proactive resource-seeking when information is incomplete.

• Team negotiation to keep work moving without burning people out.

The Ripple Effect of One Internship

The transition from NJCCIC to JerseyCTF wasn’t a coincidence — it was trust built on consistent contribution. Designing and testing CTF challenges for a college-level competition pushed me further, but I was ready because NJCCIC had already taught me to balance difficulty, fairness, and educational value.

The framework I now carry is simple but powerful:

Learn → Apply → Stress-Test → Share → Iterate

It keeps me from treating learning as a one-way street and ensures I’m always feeding results back into the system.

Advice for Future Applicants

Here is some advice that I have for people who are looking to apply or for future interns, especially for the advanced internship:

1. Make Your Application Tangible: Replace generic “I love cybersecurity” statements with specific examples of projects, challenges solved, or relevant research.

2. Get Comfortable Without Handholding: Build your own timelines, propose meeting agendas, and create your own checkpoints.

3. Network During Speaker Sessions: Treat them as opportunities for meaningful follow-ups, not just listening.

4. Leave with a Tangible Product: Aim to walk away with something you can point to — a publication, a challenge you built, or a public-facing resource.

   
   

Final Reflection

NJCCIC wasn’t just a summer role — it was a pivot point. It deepened my understanding of how cybersecurity functions in the real world, gave me the confidence to tackle open-ended problems, and connected me to opportunities I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

If you joined NJCCIC’s internship program, which part would excite you the most?

• Live Fire Exercise
• Capstone Research Project
• CTF & Escape Room Challenges
• Professional Speaker Sessions

About the Author: I'm Jophy Lin, a high school junior and researcher. I blog about a variety of topics, such as STEM research, competitions, shows, and my experiences in the scientific community. If you’re interested in research tips, competition insights, drama reviews, personal reflections on STEM opportunities, and other related topics, subscribe to my newsletter to stay updated!