Just Another Rainy Day

It’s just another day.

Nothing extraordinary happened today, and maybe that’s why I wanted to write this. Sometimes the quiet days are worth remembering just as much as the exciting ones. They’re the days where you don’t unlock some huge achievement or earn a new certificate. Instead, you simply keep showing up, and I think that’s where real progress happens.

Life has been surprisingly calm lately. The little tensions and misunderstandings around college seem to have settled down. I guess whatever “beef” people had with me has slowly faded away. That’s honestly a relief because it lets me focus on the things that actually matter to me. College is still college. There are assignments to finish, lectures to attend, and deadlines that somehow always appear faster than expected. I’m getting them done one by one without overthinking them.

Outside of that, most of my time has been spent learning.

Not chasing certificates.

Not rushing through modules.

Just learning.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve realized that if I truly want to become a good penetration tester, I can’t only look at applications from the attacker’s perspective. I also need to understand how they’re built. It’s easy to memorize vulnerabilities or learn how to exploit them, but understanding why they exist is a completely different skill.

That’s why I’ve started spending more time on what I simply call my “dev side.”

I’m learning how applications work internally, how different components communicate, how authentication flows are designed, how data moves from the frontend to the backend, and why developers make the decisions they do. The more I learn, the more I realize that good security starts with understanding development.

If I know how an application is built, I’ll have a much better chance of understanding where it can fail.

And honestly, I’ve been enjoying it a lot more than I expected.

Alongside that, my CPTS journey has been going really well.

Well… mostly.

There are still plenty of moments where I stare at a page for twenty minutes and think, “What am I even looking at?”

Sometimes a concept just refuses to click. Sometimes an attack chain doesn’t make sense. Sometimes I finish reading an entire section only to realize I understood almost nothing.

A few months ago, I probably would’ve skipped it and moved on.

Now I don’t.

I keep researching.

I read another article.

I watch another explanation.

I search through documentation.

I test things in my own lab.

I keep going until the idea finally makes sense.

I’ve stopped caring about how long it takes me to understand something. I’d rather spend three hours truly understanding a concept than spend fifteen minutes memorizing it just to forget it next week.

That mindset has changed the way I learn.

I’ve also been thinking about building my own web applications.

Not because I want to become a full-time web developer, but because I think it’s one of the best ways to learn application security. Building something yourself forces you to think differently. You start asking questions like, “How would I store user data?” or “How should authentication work?” or “What happens if someone sends unexpected input?”

Once I build those applications, I want to turn around and attack them.

Break them.

Fix them.

Break them again.

I think that’s one of the best ways to understand security, and it’s something I’m genuinely excited to start working on.

Programming has become a much bigger part of my journey than I expected.

Lately I’ve been spending more time with Python and Java. Both languages feel important for different reasons. Python makes automation and scripting incredibly enjoyable, and every week I find another reason to write a small script that makes my workflow easier. Java, on the other hand, is helping me understand how many enterprise applications are structured. It opens another door into the world of application security.

The deeper I go, the more I realize that programming isn’t separate from cybersecurity.

It’s part of it.

Another thing I’ve been thinking about is PentesterLab. The source code review exercises there look incredibly interesting, and I definitely want to work through them someday. But I’ve also learned not to rush into buying every course that looks useful.

Right now my priority is finishing this development phase first. I want to build a stronger foundation before adding more resources to my learning path.

One step at a time.

That’s something I’ve been reminding myself a lot lately.

I’ve also been thinking about this website.

When I first started it, I wasn’t exactly sure what it would become.

Now I think I know.

I want it to become a place where I document everything I learn. Not just cybersecurity, but programming, development, small experiments, random discoveries, notes that helped me, and lessons I wish someone had told me earlier.

I’ll be sharing my notes here soon.

Programming articles too.

Maybe some scripts I’ve written.

Maybe small projects.

Maybe things that don’t work.

Because I think sharing the failures is just as important as sharing the successes.

And while I’m writing this…

It’s raining outside.

The weather has been amazing today.

I’ve got a cup of coffee sitting next to me, the window’s open, and the sound of the rain is filling the room. Moments like this make me appreciate the journey even more. No pressure. No rush. Just me, my laptop, a warm cup of coffee, and another opportunity to learn something new.

I don’t know exactly where this journey will take me.

Maybe one day I’ll look back at these journal entries after earning certifications I once dreamed about.

Maybe I’ll laugh at how confused I was.

Maybe I’ll realize that the things keeping me awake today became second nature.

But that’s the beauty of learning.

Every expert was once completely lost.

Right now, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Still learning.

Still researching.

Still making mistakes.

Still asking questions.

Still writing notes.

Still building.

And most importantly…

Still enjoying every step of the journey.

Until next time.