The Westin Scholar Prize selection process involved a writing competition judged by the teachers, leading to finalists interviewed by the University’s Director of Privacy. Holquist’s essay required a deep reflection.
“The test was invited to think about the security-related courses that you took throughout your stay at Ohio, to think about how they will assign your future career aspirations and how they could have prepared you to succeed in the future,” he said.
He found the value of looking back on his courses, which included courses in compliance and planning, data networking and commercial cybersecurity.
“I think that most of the time, as a student, we can do the work” just to do it “and take nothing lessons,” said Holquist. “But in something like security, with an increasing field with so many laws and regulations, how serious people are and how often they can be disclosed … I think the most difficult part has been to try to think about the most significant concepts of each of these courses, put them on paper and connect them to the way they can affect my future career.”
Receiving the prize, in particular as the first of his college, was significant.
“It’s really cool,” said Holquist. “It was honestly just a good practice for myself to think. I am not great to think about me very often, so it was personally beneficial and professionally.”
Holquist sees a link between his business studies and his cybersecurity needs. Companies manage large amounts of sensitive customer data, shipping addresses with financial details and social security numbers.
“When a company has this data, with the way technology evolves, people are able to take advantage of the infrastructure of these companies if they are not properly protected,” he said. “Be able to understand what is the commercial value and what they are trying to get out of it as well as trying to protect the reputation of our business – as well as our customers – is extremely important, in particular with the way technology evolves”.