LSU Enabled Professional Career in Music, Then Cybersecurity
October 09, 2023
Broadening Access to Cyber Careers
Professional trumpet player and LSU School of Music alumnus Andrew Trimble from Alexandria, Louisiana, had already traveled to 67 countries and counting when his head started turning mysteriously to the left. He couldn’t play or hardly make a sound. What was going on?
Not yet diagnosed with cervical dystonia, Trimble was forced to walk away from a lucrative career playing music on cruise ships to every continent. He reconnected with his alma mater, LSU, since he’d always had an interest in technology. Knowing the great and growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, Trimble enrolled in LSU Online & Continuing Education’s six-month Cyber Bootcamp. He quickly learned how to manage, monitor and secure computer systems and networks, and how to respond to cyberattacks.
“It was a phenomenal experience and something I could sink my teeth into,” Trimble said. “I didn’t want to stew on not being able to play, and flounder. It’s not easy to put 18 years into learning a craft and then not be able to do it.”
Trimble now works as a systems engineer for the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, formerly Fort Polk, in Vernon Parish in western Louisiana. There, brigades of Army soldiers from across the country learn how to move and fight on rough terrain as well as defend themselves against cyberattacks.
In addition to its online Cyber Bootcamp and CompTIA Security+ course, LSU Online & Continuing Education recently launched an online Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity Risk Management with the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business.
Andrew Trimble, center, played trumpet as a student in the LSU School of Music.
“Andrew has been the point of the spear on our automations team. His technical knowledge is beyond reproach, and his ability to learn detailed technical tasks quickly and remain laser-focused during stressful situations is truly remarkable. He inspires everyone around him.”
Cavin Clark, team lead for BlueWater Federal Solutions, a Tetra Tech Company, on working with LSU School of Music and LSU Online & Continuing Education Cyber Bootcamp alumnus Andrew Trimble to support the Army